Lansdowne Yonkers clinched their 2nd Eastern Premier Soccer League (EPSL) Metropolitan Conference title with their 3-0 win over Manhattan Celtic on Saturday night (May 11th). In front of a crowd of nearly 200 spectators, the "bhoys" in the hoops got the chance to lift a league trophy in front of their home fans for the first time since before the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is the first trophy won this year by Coach Matt Kane, who is in his debut season at the helm. Lansdowne Yonkers, who are on a 17W-3D-1L record, clinch first place and a #1 seed in the upcoming playoffs, despite having one more regular season match to play next weekend at SC Vistula Garfield (NJ).
The match on Saturday was always going to be emotional, but Yonkers was determined to win. A lot of hard pressing on both sides caused for little space for threading passes, with plenty of hard tackles, as Manhattan were themselves fighting to win for a chance at the 4th and final playoff position. Celtic had some opportunities, but all shots were stopped by goalkeeper from Manhattan College Daniel Di Marco. Lansdowne got the first go ahead goal from a corner where Vigo Sjoberg volleyed a header from the center to register his first goal of the season. Minutes later, Shamir Mullings, a former professional back in the English Football League, drove in a clean signature finish going 1v1 with the Celtic keeper. The fans were constantly shouting and cheering, especially for Mullings’ goal as he also happens to be the Director of the Lansdowne Yonkers Youth System. Tensions were still high at halftime, and with an announcement over the loudspeaker that a potential trophy ceremony was being prepared, Coach Kane emphasized further motivation from his players. Manhattan Celtic gave a much better game to start the 2nd half, but when Kyle Galloway put in the 3rd goal off a beautiful Liam Salmon cross, Lansdowne Yonkers played some of their best soccer all season and dominated. A great sequence of passes led to an almost goal of the season play by Galloway for #4, but it was flagged offside.
At the moment the final whistle was blown, most of the fans and youth players ran onto the field to celebrate the moment. The EPSL Metropolitan Conference trophy, which was delivered from the Pancyprians headquarters to Yonkers on Friday, was on display and ready to be lifted. “Celtic Symphony” was blasting through the speakers as the players were jumping around with the fans with many of the Irish players wearing the tri-colour on their backs as capes. In front of fans and a live television audience of over 5,000, Lansdowne Yonkers lifted the trophy and players popped champagne for an iconic shower over the celebrating players. On top of being able to keep the trophy for a year, Lansdowne Yonkers FC will receive $7,000 of prize money from the EPSL.
“It always feels great. There’s been a lot of work put in from the bhoys and the staff. Credit to Matt (Kane) who’s come in and taken over, and made it what it is. He puts a lot of effort into everything he does and it shows,” remarked Shamir Mullings. Coach Matt Kane added “Credit to my phenomenal assistant coach Jordan Collver, who helped in every step of the way and spotted great talent in a lot of the new players, but credit to the players who were working hard every step of the way.”
It was definitely an emotional match, as Kane by coincidence had to win this title against his former club Manhattan Celtic. Kane led Celtic for the prior 10 seasons, promoting them into the EPSL from the Cosmopolitan Soccer League in 2021, and nearly brought them into the playoffs last year. Kane re-assured that coaching against his former club did not impact his decision making. “It could have been any team, and we had a job to do, and we stuck to it. Fair play to Manhattan Celtic who made the game very difficult. There was no pressure, and I’m glad we got to do our job.”
While the celebrations were due, and the players deserved to celebrate, the season is not over. Lansdowne Yonkers still have one more regular season match to play. They can do whatever they like with their roster and it would not change anything, but they will aim to win and set an EPSL record for points on the table. They have to wait to find out who their opponent will be in the playoffs, as the 4th seed is still yet to be determined, but it’s definitely either going to be Doxa FCW or Hoboken FC. The Bhoys also have to travel to Horsham, Pennsylvania on Father’s Day to defend their Region 1 Werner Fricker Cup against either Christos (Baltimore, MD) or West Chester United (West Chester, PA). If they win their first 2 EPSL playoff matches, they will travel to Lancaster, PA for the inter-conference playoffs to compete to win the EPSL championship. They last won the EPSL in 2021, but if they win again in 2024, they will represent the Northeast United States in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) Nation National playoffs in Irvine, CA in December. Winning that would cap the year off with a 6th national title for the club, and the 8th to come from a Yonkers soccer team. The original Yonkers FC won the USFA Cup in 1913, the Yonkers Polish American Eagles won the National Amateur Cup in 1987, and Lansdowne won the 2017 National Amateur Cup, the 2017 National Fricker Cup, the 2019 Fricker Cup, the 2021 Amateur Cup, and the 2021 Fricker Cup.
Lansdowne Yonkers' victory continues the dynasty that has been taking the pre-professional soccer scene in America by storm for the last 10 years, and Yonkers is moving towards becoming one of the most successful soccer cities in the country. Outside of Lansdowne, clubs are popping up all over the state's 3rd largest city, and it's becoming very difficult to book field space at any of the city's major turf fields. Last year, Yonkers Parks Department recently built and opened a new regulation sized turf field next to St. John's Riverside Hospital. This year, while the NY GAA Minor Board renovated H.B. Redmond Park (which was a well used soccer field for decades) to suit Gaelic Sports, the city of Yonkers and Dunwoodie Youth Association requested the building of a high quality grass soccer field in the middle, and it's expected to be booked up quickly too. With USL League One announcing an expansion professional soccer team coming to Mount Vernon's Memorial Field, Yonkers may need to get behind Lansdowne for the first Yonkers vs. Mount Vernon soccer derby in a future U.S. Open Cup.
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