Lansdowne Yonkers can win the EPSL Metro Conference on Saturday.
Lansdowne Yonkers, Yonkers’ semi-professional soccer team, sits in first place and are 3 points, effectively 1 win, from winning the Eastern Premier Soccer League (EPSL) Metropolitan Conference title. They face Manhattan Celtic at Tibbetts Brook Park at 8 PM, and if they win the game, they get to lift the Metropolitan Conference trophy in front of the home fans. Lansdowne made this scenario possible by restarting a new winning streak, in which they defeated Hoboken FC, Central Park Rangers, and their title rivals NY Pancyprian Freedoms to move back into first with 51 pts and a record of 16 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.
It’s not going to be an easy match. Manhattan Celtic happens to be the former club of Lansdowne Yonkers head coach Matt Kane. The Belfast native made the blockbuster switch to Yonkers in the summer of 2023 after nearly leading Manhattan into the EPSL playoffs for the first time at the end of the 2022-23 season. Lansdowne Yonkers’ recruited Kane to rebuild their first team and create a new culture among the bhoys, who hadn’t advanced past the first round of EPSL playoffs since winning everything in 2021. The move created an atmosphere of mixed feelings among the Celtic players, and it’s likely the case that they will throw the kitchen sink at Lansdowne to prevent them from clinching the title on Saturday. It’s possible that Lansdowne will have already clinched the title by the time they face Celtic, but it’s unlikely. Yonkers’ title rival, the 2nd place NY Pancyprian Freedoms, face SC Vistula Garfield on Wednesday night, and if they lose, then Lansdowne will be declared champions. The Pancyprians have kept a very tight race with Lansdowne Yonkers, and it took their recent matchup on May 2nd to give Lansdowne the scenario to win this Saturday.
The Pancyprians, who have battled with Yonkers for supremacy in local pre-professional soccer for the better half of the last decade, traveled up to Yonkers on Thursday May 2nd, for what is believed to be the effective title deciding match. In front of a crowd of over 100, Lansdowne Yonkers put on a thrilling display of soccer. The “Bhoys” had only one regular season win against the Pancyprians in their previous 6 matchups, but it was newcomer Liam Salmon, who headed in the first goal that caused the young children and fans to explode in excitement. The Pancyprians quickly equalized, and the match turned into a massive game of chess. Yonkers restored their lead in the beginning of the 2nd half; as a result, they began to break down the Pancyprians’ lethal wingers who were creating the main attacking threats. When Lansdowne scored the 3rd goal, the youth players who aspire to be like their first team counterparts ran onto the field and celebrated with Liam Walsh, who slid to slot the insurance goal into the net.
Saturday is Lansdowne Yonkers’ last regular season home game. If they don’t win the conference title on Saturday, they can still win it on the road on May 18th when they travel to Garfield, NJ and face SC Vistula. Ideally, the bhoys would love to just win it in front of their home fans. They last won the Metropolitan Conference at St. John’s University in 2021 and celebrated by bringing the trophy to The Heritage on McLean Avenue. To have the entire party at Tibbetts Brook Park would be a lot more convenient. Attendance is free, kick off is at 8 PM, and if you cannot be there in person, the match will be livestreamed on New Logical Sports.
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