The top four Long Island Junior Soccer League teams from the Boys Under-14 Premier Division will be playing this Saturday at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview with a trip to Dallas on the line.
The 10 a.m. semifinals will feature the top-seeded Hauppauge Hurricanes (6-2-1) taking on fourth-seeded Stony Brook Santos (3-2-4) while the No. 2 seed Huntington Boys Club AOs play third-seeded Uniondale Aguila, both with 5-3-1 records. The winners will advance to the final at 1:30 p.m.
Hauppauge won the State Open Cup in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association in June and will need to win two tough matches on Saturday to add to their trophy case.
This final four is being played as the LIJSL and the IberCup USA announced a joint agreement earlier this fall, which culminates in the opportunity for one LIJSL Boys Under-14 Fall 2017 Premier Division team to participate in the IberCup USA 2018. The event will be held March 28–April 1.
“The competition for the IberCup playoffs has been extremely tight throughout the season, and is representative of the competitive level of play of these teams,” said Steve Padaetz, the LIJSL’s director of member services and its competitions chairman. “We look forward to welcoming the four advancing teams to the final four playoffs on Thanksgiving weekend, in what we expect will be very competitive and exciting matches.”
Through this partnership agreement, the LIJSL IberCup champion receives an automatic invitation and paid acceptance into the event, with the team’s hotel, meals and ground transportation costs paid for by IberCup USA. The value of the package is estimated to be more than $10,000.
