Below, the victorious I.S. 276 girls soccer teams pose with their trophy. Will Tibbals smiles after I.S. 289 won while Maya Arnott jumps to head the ball. Above, an I.S. 289 player shows off his skills.
BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Two Battery Park City soccer teams — the girls team of I.S. 276 and the boys team of I.S. 289 — both won this year’s N.Y.C Middle School Soccer Championship on Sunday.
It was exciting.” said Leyna Madison, I.S. 289’s after-school director for Manhattan Youth, which runs both schools’ soccer programs.
Madison said an important part of the boys’ win Nov. 16 came when goalkeeper Luke Chavez, a seventh grader who is normally a defender, blocked a goal attempt by the striker of the opposing team, The Computer School on the Upper West Side. Chavez had played only one game as goalie, Madison said in a phone interview.
It was Computer School’s one big chance to score at the end of the first half, said Madison, and Chavez slided out of the goalie box and prevented the goal, keeping the match scoreless.
“It was a key moment,” she said.
Five minutes into the second half, center midfielder Will Tibbals, an eighth grader, passed the ball to striker Julian Reiss, also an eighth grader, who scored a goal. The Cougars retained possession of the ball for the majority of the second half, said Madison, and defeated Computer School, 1 – 0.
The I.S. 289 Cougars, coached by James Herlihy, have won the championship three times in the past four years: 2011, 2013 and 2014. They defeated the Computer School last year as well to win the championship.
Madison said the players were “ecstatic” and “super-excited” to win, and six players from last year’s team contributed to this year’s win.
I.S. 289 was fifth in its division and had to beat their southern neighborhood rivals, the I.S. 276 boys team, to advance. The two teams are close — considered “sibling schools” and practice at the same B.P.C. field. In one case, identical twins Nick and Kai Carse play for each team, with Kai on I.S. 289, said Madison.
“We’re still a family even though we’re playing one another,” said Madison.
Indeed, the boys team and the girls team of I.S. 276 shared a bus to travel to Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island.
In what is their first championship win, the I.S. 276 girls soccer team defeated Hunter Middle School 2 – 0, said assistant coach Cynthia De Leon.
De Leon said both teams came out pretty hard to start the game but around the 12 minute mark, Mavi Celebi, a seventh grader, capitalized on an opportunity and scored. She then kicked another ball into the goal and the Chargers had a two-goal lead in the first half.
In the second half, Hunter came out roaring but the I.S. 276 team held them off.
“Our defense was just stellar,” De Leon said in a phone interview.
The girls team, whose head coach is Samantha Qureshi, had an undefeated season.
In addition to the I.S. 276 and I.S. 289 teams, Manhattan Youth also runs sports teams at six other middle schools. Forty teams participate in the middle school leagues, which play after school and on the weekends.
