Club Notes on the Fly ...

June 7:  U10 girls MSC Santos advanced all the way to the NY Cup finals, before losing to World Class 4-2 in a hotly contested final.  Santos defeated North Rockland 3-2 in the semi earlier in the day.  U10 boys MSC Villa were defeated in the NY Cup semis by eventual Cup winner Gottschee, 5-2.  Some of the strongest U10 teams in the State competed in this tournament, which stretched from mid March until early June.

June 1: There was a lot of great soccer played by numerous MSC teams over the holiday weekend, in age groups starting from the fledgling U8 boys and girls teams out of the  MSC Academy, coached by Chris Perez and Lule Dyasi; U11 boys  MSC Milan, U12 boys MSC Cruziero,  U13 boys MSC Matrix, U12 girls MSC River Plate, U14 girls MSC Cosmos, at the Massapequa tournament; to the U9 boys MSC Emelec, U11 girls MSC Bayern, U13 girls MSC Revolution, who all competed in the premier FC Delco tournament in PA; the U16 girls MSC Pride, who competed in the showcase Columbia Cup tournament in MD; and U19 men MSC Panthers who played in the elite Potomac Memorial tournament.  Champion's glory:  U15 boys MSC Ajax won the top bracket at Delco over rivals Lake Grove 3-1; and U13 boys MSC Barcelona won the top bracket at Potomac (MD), over Beachside, 3-1.  U14 girls MSC Chivas won the Championship bracket at Massapequa over Dix Hills Stars.  U15 girls MSC Real won their Championship bracket at Massapequa.  Congratulations to all the players and families, and to Coach John Lathan of Ajax, Coach Wilson Egidio of Barcelona, Coach Neri Amaducci of Chivas, and Coach Pierre Cook of Real ... Noteworthy achievements over the weekend:  U19 boys MSC Phoenix lost in the final at Potomac; U13 girls MSC Hotspur fell narrowly in the final at Delco; U14 boys MSC Juventus lost in the semi-finals on a PK shootout at Delco; and U10 boys MSC Villa lost in the semis at Massapequa, playing an age up at U11.  Congratulations to all of these teams and families and Phoenix coach Wilson Egidio, Hotspur Coach Patrick Greene, Juventus Coach Ray Selvadurai, and Villa Coach John Lathan on your weekend achievements.

May 23:  MSC Athletic (U17 boys) defeated Soccer Plus Academy 3-1 in the U17 NERP title game, to capture the U17 championship.  Athletic took a 1-0 into the half, but really turned it on after intermission, to score two more goals and cruise to a victory.  The NERP title quailfies Athletic for a prestigious spot in the Region 1 Premier League next spring.

May 23:  MSC Barcelona (U13 boys) lose to Smithtown 0-0 (3-2 in PKs) in State Cup semifinals.  Painful loss, but Barcelona had a great run.  Well done.  MSC Ajax (U15 boys), the defending Cup champions, defeated Lake Grove 2-2 (5-4 in PKs) in the State Cup semifinals, to advance to their second straight Cup final. Thanks go out to our own Eddy Collyns for game-side updates on this thrilling and historic match. It marks the first time in Club history that an MSC team has reached the Cup finals in consecutive years.  MSC Santos (U10 girls) and MSC Villa (U10 boys) each have NY Cup semifinal matches to play on June 13.  NY Cup, which is a State Cup tournament event reserved for younger teams, has been well organized and highly competitive, with some of the strongest U9-to-U11 teams in ENY in play.

May 11:  MSC Ajax (U15 boys) and MSC Barcelona (U13 boys) advance to the State Cup semifinals, while MSC Hotspur (U13 girls), MSC Revolution (U13 girls), MSC Panthers (U18 boys), MSC Athletic (U17 boys), MSC Hurricane (U16 boys) are eliminated at the quarterfinals.  Athletic were beaten last night by defending Region 1 champion Hicksville, 2-0, in a tight match.

MSC Phoenix (U18 boys) were beaten by YMS Xplosion in the Region 1 Premier League final, 2-0.  Phoenix still have a chance to advance to the Regionals in late June, if  YMS can capture the Eastern PA State Cup title.  Phoenix would then be the  representative of Region 1 Premier, while YMS would advance to the Regional Championships as the EPA State Cup champions.

May 9:  MSC Ajax (U15 boys) and MSC Barcelona (U13 boys) both won quarterfinal State Cup matches yesterday, to advance to the Cup semis.  MSC Phoenix (U18 boys) beat Lower Merion 2-0 yesterday, and will play the Region 1 Premier League title game against YMS Xplosion (#1 ranked team in the country) at 2pm today.  Winner of that match will advance to the Regional Championships in late June. MSC Hotspur (U13 girls), MSC Panthers (U18 boys), and MSC Athletic (U17 boys) all play State Cup quarterfinal matches today or tomorrow night ... U10 boys MSC Kaizer Chiefs took second at the LaGrange Cup tournament over the weekend.  Nicely done, boys!

MSC Lanus (U9 girls) took home the 1st place trophy in the U9 division and MSC Porto (U11 girls) took 1st place in the U12 division at the Lagrange Cup tournament yesterday.

May 5:  U17 boys MSC Athletic and U14 boys MSC Juventus both captured NERP division titles, and will advance to the NERP title game in Cranston, Rhode Island on May 15.  The winner of the title matches will receive an automatic bid to play in the Region One Premier League next year.  U13 boys MSC Barcelona and U16 girls MSC Pride both finished their NERP seasons on a high note, with Barcelona finishing second in the the division at (5-2-0) and the Pride finishing a strong third and undefeated at (3-0-4).  U13 girls MSC Hotspur (3-1-1) and U18 boys MSC Panthers (2-2-1) still have NERP games to play; the Hotspur with a legitimate chance to finish second and the Panthers with a shot to finish third.  U18 girls MSC Sirens (1-2-4) closed out their NERP season last Sunday.

May 2: U13 boys MSC Barcelona picked up two big wins yesterday, to clinch second place in NERP Blue Division with a (5-2-0) final record.  There is no Region 1 Premier League at U13 to peel off the top teams, so Barcelona has been competing against some of the strongest teams in the region this spring in NERP. Barcelona spanked Blackwatch 4-0 in the morning match, and came from behind to defeat the Boston Bolts 2-1 the the late match.  U14 boys MSC Juventus played two outstanding teams yesterday, tying Bayport 2-2 in the early match, and defeating Cup favorite Massapequa 2-0 in the later match.  The tie against Bayport was painful, in that Juventus gave up the tying goal on a direct kick with second left in the match.  The win against Massapequa was huge, giving Juventus 4 points for the day.  Juventus closed the NERP divisional season at (5-1-1), which may be good enough to win the division title.  Games next weekend involving competitor team Plainview will determine whether or not Juventus advances to the NERP title game.  In other NERP games, U13 girls MSC Hotspur drew 1-1 with the Alleycats, putting them at (3-1-1), with an excellent chance to finish second in the division.  U17 boys MSC Athletic play LaGrange today at noon, and if they can tie or win, they will clinch the NERP Blue Division.

April 30:  U17 boys MSC Athletic travel to LaGrange on Sunday, and if they win or tie, they capture the NERP Blue Division title.  U14 boys MSC Juventus travel to Bayport on Saturday, to play both Bayport and Massapequa.  Six points will clinch the division title.  Four points will just about do the trick.  Three or less, and Juventus will need some help from other matches.

April 26:  Both of MSC's U13 girls teams have reached the Quarter-finals in the NYE State Open Cup.  MSC Hotspur defeated White Plains Elite 2-1 on Sunday, a day after sister team MSC Revolution dispatched White Plains Black 4-0.  Among the boys, U16 MSC Hurricane, U17 MSC Athletic, and U18 MSC Panthers have gone through to the Quarterfinals; this weekend, U13 MSC Barcelona advanced with a convincing 5-0 win over Eastern FC Lancers, and U15 MSC Ajax joined the MSC Quarter-finalists with a 3-0 win over Dutchmen ... Over in the JSS NY State Cup, U10 MSC Villa advanced to the Quarter-final round with a solid 4-0 win over Lindenhurst SC Force.  Good luck to all in a fortnight! ... Last but certainly not least, U18 MSC Phoenix clinched the top spot in the ultra elite Region 1 league and will play in the championship game next weekend.  Good luck Phoenix!

April 19: Great weekend of soccer out on Randall's, hope everyone had fun ... Congrats to the boys of U13 MSC Barcelona on a convincing 4-0 NERP win Sunday over Beachside a day after an 8-0 NERP win over Synergy FC up in Albany ... U14 boys MSC Juventus had a successful NERP Saturday with two wins including a last-minute goal off a corner kick that curled in untouched to give them a 2-1 victory in the opener  ... U10 girls MSC Santos upped their MAPS league record to 4-0 this weekend with two more impressive wins ...