New York Pancyprian-Freedoms

New York Pancyprian-Freedoms

Full name	New York Pancyprian-Freedoms
Founded	1974
Stadium	Belson Stadium Jamaica, New York (Capacity: 2,600)
General Manager	George Halkidis
Head Coach	Luka Lukovic
League	Cosmopolitan Soccer League USASA
Home colors Away colors

New York Pancyprian-Freedoms is an American amateur soccer team based in Jamaica, New York, United States. Founded in 1974, the team plays in Region I of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team plays its home games at Belson Stadium on the campus of at St. John's University. The team's colors are white and blue.

History

The Pancyprian-Freedoms were founded in 1974, and have competed in New York City’s Cosmopolitan Soccer League, a well-respected league which dates back to the 1920s and which is a member of the United States Adult Soccer Association Region I group of leagues, since that inaugural season. The Freedoms have won seven Cosmopolitan League titles in their history, in 1979, 1980, 1982, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2011.^[1][2]

The Pancyprian-Freedoms are also one of the all-time great Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup clubs, and have qualified, or have attempted to qualify, for the Open Cup every year of their existence. They won the cup three times in the all-amateur pre-Major League Soccer era, in 1980, 1982 and 1983, and following their triumph in 1983 they reached the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 1984, beating Mexican powerhouse Puebla on penalties, and overcoming Honduran champions Vida, before they and their semi-final opponents CD Guadalajara were disqualified after failing to agree on the dates of the matches.

The Pancyprian-Freedoms have qualified for the final stages of two US Open Cups in the professional era. They lost 3-2 in extra time to the Real Maryland Monarchs in the first round in 2008,^[3] and lost 2-0 in the first round to USL Premier Development League team Long Island Rough Riders^[4] in 2010.

In addition to their CSL and USOC exploits, the Pancyprian-Freedoms won the 2008 US Open Amateur Cup, beating the Arizona Sahuaros 2-1 after extra time in the final in Seattle, Washington.^[5] They also won the 2010 and 2011 US Open Cup besting the Detroit FC 3-0 in pk's following 2-2 tie after regulation and 2OT's in 2010. The team once again won the US Open Cup in 2011 in Bowling Green, KY crushing AAC Eagles (ILL) 6-0 in the semifinals and besting Doxa Italia (CA) 5-4 in Pk's after a 2-2 tie in regulation and overtime.

The current men's team is composed primarily of players that came up through the Eleftheria-Pancyprian Youth teams, the youth soccer division of the Pancyprian Association of New York.^[6] The majority of players have played NCAA Division I college soccer, and are now young business professionals or attending graduate school in various fields of study.

New York Freedom

After years of competing in the Cosmopolitan League and the US Open Cup, the Freedoms branched out and created a second team - called the New York Freedom - which joined the USL Premier Development League in 1999. The Freedom won the Northeast Division title and advancing to the PDL national semifinals in their inaugural season, and qualified for the US Open Cup, where they upset the Cape Cod Crusaders of the USL D3 Pro League in the first round and nearly eliminated the A-League’s Rochester Raging Rhinos, eventually falling 2-1 in extra time to the eventual champions. The Freedoms left the USL in 2003.

Players

2010 USOC roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Chad Calderone 2 DF Jon Simos 3 DF Chris Zisimatos 4 DF Nick Katsanos 5 DF Andreas Kalpaxis 6 DF Peter Pavlakos 7 FW Stelios Andreou 8 MF Matia Damiani 9 MF Anastasios Polydefkis 10 MF Jeffrey Matteo 11 FW Chris Megaloudis

No. Position Player 12 DF Gabriel Ortega 13 MF Nick Christopher 14 MF Michael Palacio 15 DF Andreas Pafitis 16 DF Tommy Vlahos 17 MF Adam Mathioudis 18 DF Billy Antoniou 19 MF Pete Halkidis 20 FW Julio Cesar Dos Santos 21 MF John Koutsounadis 27 GK Christian Iordanou

Notable former players

• Evagoras Christofi
• Andreas Chronis
• Cinica Gogic
• Mickey Kydes
• Mike Palacio
• Mimis Papaioannou

2011 CSL Reserve Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player MF Adam Brunengo FW Billy Bourekas DF Angelo Zisimatos DF Jerry Alissandratos DF Angelo Litourgis DF Angelo Skartsiaris DF Jimmy Theodoropoulos MF Christos Chronis MF Gus Polydefkis FW Sotiris Pavlou FW George Despotopoulos MF Panagiotis Despotopoulos MF Leo Stavrinou

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1979	5	USASA			Champions
1980	5	USASA			Champions
1982	5	USASA			Champions
1993	5	USASA			Quarter Finals
2008	5	USASA			1st Round
2009	5	USASA			Did not qualify
2010	5	USASA			1st Round
2011	5	USASA			2nd Round

Head coaches

• Mimis Papaioannou (1978–1983)
• Nikos Exarhidis (1986–1988)
• Lambros Lambrou (1989–1994)
• Luka Lukovic (2005–present)

Stadium

• Belson Stadium at St. John's University; Jamaica, New York (2005–present)

References

1. ^ HickokSports.com - Sports History - U. S. National Soccer Champions
2. ^ http://www.cslny.com/custpage.php?cid=2092
3. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/usopencup/matchreports/256419.html
4. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/stats/US%20Open%20Cup%20-%202010/1823134.html
5. ^ USA History: The US Open Cup (National Challenge Cup)
6. ^ Newyorkroversfc

External links