Amputee soccer took over the Susa Orlin & Cohen Sportsplex in Central Islip, New York, last weekend as the New England Amputee Soccer Team, along with five other organizations, competed in the U.S. Amputee Soccer Cup.
New England began its quest for the trophy when they faced Arena FC. After having an earlier attempt squandered, Musabwa Nzirimwo opened his account in the fourth minute when a poor clearance from Arena led to Nico Calabria slotting the ball into the path of Nzirimwo, who lasered the ball past the keeper and in to give New England a 1-0 lead.
Nzirimwo doubled his tally in the 10th minute when he got on the end of a forward pass from Calabria and drove toward goal before peppering the ball past the keeper and in to give New England a 2-0 lead. A bit of luck led to New England tripling their lead in the 13th minute as Nzirimwo’s shot from distance deflected off a body and ricochetted into the back of the net to make it 3-0 New England.
Calabria etched his name onto the score sheet in the 15th minute when he brushed by his defender on the left flank and curled a shot to the right side of the net and in to give New England a commanding 4-0 lead. Vincent Fischer added to the total in the 18th minute when he tucked a shot into the right side of the net to make it 5-0 New England.
Menchikov Louis was at the right place at the right time in the 21st minute when a shot deflected off the keeper and fell into his path as he got onto the loose ball and drilled it home to give New England a 6-0 lead.
Arena FC would not go down quietly as a free-kick opportunity in the 39th minute led to Amie Donathan whipping a cross into the box. Nzirimwo leapt in an attempt to head the ball away from danger, but it took an unlucky bounce off his head and into New England’s net to shrink their lead.
New England tacked on another in the closing seconds of the match when a backheel to Calabria led to him curling a ball to an advancing Nzirimwo, who volleyed the ball home to seal a commanding 8-1 win for New England in its opening contest.
Unfortunately, their second match against Colorado was not livestreamed, but like their opener against Arena, New England remained undefeated after walking away victorious.
New England capped off day two with a contest against GOAT as they looked to secure a spot in the Amputee Soccer Cup Final.
Nzirimwo got things going in the sixth minute when he received Calabria’s pass. After taking a few moments to set himself up, Nzirimwo lasered a shot to the bottom-left corner to net the game’s opening goal.
New England doubled their lead in the eighth minute when Calabria slotted a ball forward to Kelvin Jimenez, who tapped the ball past the keeper and in to make it 2-0. After assisting on the opening two goals, Calabria found one of his own in the ninth minute when Vincent Fischer laid a back pass into the path of a darting Calabria, who put his laces through the ball and drilled it past the keeper and in to make it 3-0.
New England would eventually secure a 4-0 victory and a spot in the finals, where they would face Metro NY.
Goalkeeper Corey Laycock came up big in the fifth minute of the championship match as he leapt into the air and batted down a dangerous shot from distance to keep the clean sheet intact. The keeper made another great save in the 17th minute after Metro NY’s attack slithered down the left flank and attempted to find the net from an incredibly tight angle. Once again, Laycock saved the day in the 21st minute when he dove to his right to deflect a short-range effort away from danger to prevent Metro NY from capitalizing on the two-on-one advantage.
Despite some phenomenal chances from both sides, neither could break the deadlock as we headed into halftime in a scoreless draw. After numerous opportunities, New England finally found the breakthrough in the 31st minute when Calabria’s free kick pinballed off a couple of bodies inside the box and ricocheted into the back of the net to give New England the 1-0 lead.
New England didn’t let its foot off the gas as they found their second goal in the 32nd minute. It all began with Nico Calabria slotting a ball forward to Louis, who looked to slot the ball home, but had his effort blocked by the keeper. Luckily, Nzirimwo was at the right place at the right time as he raced to the loose ball and fought off the trailing Metro NY defense to slot the ball home to make it 2-0.
New England upped the pressure once more in the 39th minute when a counterattack led to Robinson Pergistre passing the ball back into the path of Calabria, who lasered a shot past the keeper and in to make it 3-0. Jimenez tacked one on in the 45th minute when he got on the end of a long ball forward and snuck it into the bottom-right corner to give New England a 4-0 lead.
A valiant effort all around helped seal a 4-0 victory, leading to New England walking away with an unbeaten record of 4-0-0. More importantly, the organization added another piece of silverware to the trophy case as they secured the 2026 U.S. Amputee Cup title.
In addition to the collective silverware as a team, Calabria walked away with tournament MVP honors while Nzirimwo took home the Golden Boot title.
