Philadelphia Tryzub wins Ukrainian American soccer's Great Lakes Cup (06/13/99)

Philadelphia Tryzub wins Ukrainian American soccer's Great Lakes Cup

by Levko Holubec

CLEVELAND - The Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals Tryzub soccer team defeated Newark Chornomorska Sitch Sports Club 3-1 in the Great Lakes Cup Open Division final last on Sunday, May 30, at Pokrova Parish Field in Parma, Ohio. Tryzub became the first team outside of the Great Lakes region to take the tournament trophy.

The fourth annual Ukrainian soccer tournament was hosted by Cleveland UASC Lviv, kicking off a yearlong 50th anniversary celebration of Ukrainian sports in greater Cleveland. Chicago UYA Kryla took home the "old boys (over age 30) trophy with a 2-0 win over Chicago Ukraina SC.

The Ukrainian soccer tournament for the Great Lakes Cup was born of a discussion between Detroit USC Chernyk's Vlodko Hnatiuk and Toronto SC Ukraina's Bohdan Lypka at a tournament in 1995. Subsequently, Mr. Hnatiuk pulled Lev Holubec into the tournament planning loop, while the latter was on a job assignment in Detroit, and joined the Chernyk club for its indoor soccer season.

The first two tournaments were hosted by the Detroit club at the Dibrova Resort in Brighton, Mich. Toronto Ukraina and Cleveland Lviv brought home the cup in 1996 and 1997, respectively. In 1998, the now traditional Memorial Day tournament was hosted by Toronto, which regained control of the cup trophy with a 1-0 victory over Cleveland Lviv in the final.

Although New York's USC made the trip to the 1997 tournament and Montreal's SC Ukraina participated in 1998, the 1999 tournament was the first to host seven clubs simultaneously in two divisions: open and old boys. Defending cup holder Toronto SC Ukraina and host Cleveland UASC Lviv were joined by Detroit USC Chernyk, Chicago Ukraina SC, Chicago UYA Kryla, Newark Chornomorska Sitch SC, and Philadelphia Tryzub for the two-day event.

Tryzub made its way to the final on a 3-0 qualification round record and a 4-0 semi-final defeat of the Cleveland Lviv Reserve. Chornomorska Sitch had a more difficult path to the final, securing third place after the qualification round, with a 2-1 record. Sitch's 1-0 loss in the qualification round was to Cleveland Lviv First Division, whom they proceeded to upset in the semi-final, 1-0 on penalty kicks. After a hard-fought match, during which the home club had more good chances, the 0-0 final score led to penalties to break the tie. To the dismay of the 300-plus guests on the Pokrova Parish Field sideline, the home team lost the penalties 3-4 to Sitch.

The open final started with a bang, as both teams scored picture-perfect soccer goals in the first five minutes. The next 30 minutes were relatively quiet, when play settled in the midfield. However, after the first 10 minutes of the second half, Tryzub exploded with two quick goals, taking advantage of Sitch's apparent fatigue - probably a result of the squad's difficult trek to the final.

Chicago Kryla coasted through the finals of the old boys division, as goalie Taras Popowycz did not allow a single goal throughout the tournament. Kryla handily defeated old boys from Chicago Ukraina, Detroit Chernyk and Cleveland Lviv, while Chicago Ukraina defeated Cleveland and Detroit, and lost to Kryla. The highlights of the final game included a long-range goal by Jaro Dachniwsky, a former U.S. Olympic Handball Team player.

Both Philadelphia Tryzub and Chicago Kryla vowed to return to the tournament in 2000, to return their respective trophies and defend their champions' status in the open and old boys divisions.

The Cleveland branch of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) co-hosted a soccer get-together on Saturday evening after the qualification matches. Players exchanged thoughts about the day, watched Ukrainian soccer games courtesy of Ukrainian Broadcasting Network (UBN) and relived the trip to France, many attended the Ukraine vs. France soccer match in March.

On Sunday, after the tournament finals, fans and players proceeded to Pokrova Parish hall for a good Ukrainian home-cooked meal and a dance, co-hosted by the parish and the sports club. TBS Inc., the local provider of UBN in Cleveland and sponsor of the tournament, provided a satellite feed of the Ukraine Cup between Karpaty Lviv and Dynamo Kyiv. Bohdan Burdiak, Cleveland Lviv club president, awarded trophies and champion shirts to the winning teams, while fans danced away into the night to the sounds of Ostap Stakhiv.

With the tournament Cleveland Lviv kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration, which will extend through the summer of 2000. The club, originally known as Orlyk, was created by a group of sports enthusiasts late in 1949 and played its first official soccer season in 1950.

The club will share its successes with the greater Cleveland community over the course of its celebration, with additional competitions, various events during the year, and with a display of memorabilia and awards at the Ukrainian Museum Archives early next year.

Responsibility for the next Ukrainian soccer tournament for the Great Lakes Cup was passed from the Cleveland Lviv tournament director, Mr. Holubec, to Vlodko Hnatiuk of Detroit Chernyk. Detroit will play host on May 27 and 28, 2000, and Toronto will take responsibility for the 2001 tournament.

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