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STATEN ISLAND, NY– The York College men’s soccer team defeated Hunter College, 1-0, to win the 2009 CUNY Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals have now won their sixth CUNYAC Championship, the most of any CUNYAC school, and will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
York’s Francisco Florez broke the scoreless tie in the 58th minute. Junior Elysee Vilsaint set up Florez in the box, directly in front of the keeper. Florez then floated the ball high to the near post, just out of reach of the goalkeeper and into the net for the game-winning goal.
York keeper Samer Abdel-Fattah was phenomenal in goal, making eight saves, including some key stops down the stretch, to earn his ninth shutout of the season.
“We started slowly,” said York head coach Linval Cunningham. “With so many young guys, this was a new experience, being new to the finals. This was a great accomplishment. Hunter is a very good team. They played a great game.”
Vilsaint was named MVP of the tournament after recording three goals and four assists in three games.
York has now won titles in 1990, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2009 for a total of six, which is one more than CCNY. Assistant coach Kafui Kouakou, who was a member of the 2007 championship team as a player now becomes the second person in York College history to win a title as both a coach and a player. Rudi Mbele, a coach on the 2007 team and player on the 1990 championship team was the first.
The pairings for the NCAA tournament will be announced on Monday at 10 a.m.