Spindles 5 - 3 Highlanders
12' - Geczy (Rabadi)
25' - Behan (Crook)
36' - Rabadi (Rust)
50' - Adjei (Maguire)
52' - Geczy
The 2024 Grassroots Cup had no shortage of entertainment and excitement.
From the start of the event to the kickoff, to the goals, and to the celebrations.
More than 300 spectators packed Lansing Park on Saturday evening to watch Spindles United host Highlanders FC in the Spindles first home game.
Accompanied by a bouncy house, food, face painting, raffles, music, and beautiful weather.
From start to finish, the first-time event was a big success for the club.
The match kicked off with a typical walkout ceremony to announce the players headlining the match.
Imani Payne, a Cohoes resident of the Spindle City Vineyard was at the helm of the National Anthem.
Josie Parker and Mia Snyder stepped up at the announcer's table for the match.
The match scoring was opened early by Luke Geczy's header off of a Matt Rabadi set piece. 1-0, 12'.
However, Highlanders bounced right back to level the score at 1-1.
Luckily, Dan Crook leaped a cross from half field to find Ethan Behan at the 6' for a quick header over the keeper. 2-1, 25'.
As Spindles always does, they conceded shortly after scoring again to bring the game level again.
4 goals in the first 25 minutes.
And make that another one as Rabadi took his chance from kickoff at half field, and found the back of the net over the keeper. 3-2, 36'.
Going into the break, the event was at its peak. A full touchline of spectators, 5 goals, and goal music galore, and Riley Kean was putting in an extra shift when running the Spindles flag up and down the field.
At halftime, the club also got to announce the winner of the highly anticipated PS5 raffle.
Congratulations to Oliva Rust!
All the proceeds of the raffle go to the development of future Spindles youth programs.
Kicking off the second half in style, Zeidane Adjei awaited a corner kick by Ian Maguire before heading the cross in. Spindle's 3rd header of the match. 4-2, 50'.
Shortly after, Luke Geczy had his eyes on second when he took a volley from outside the 18' to put it away in the bottom corner. 5-2, 52'.
The final score of the match was 5-3. An 8 goal thriller from both sides.
A big thank you to Highlanders for accepting our invitation to play.
We were grateful to have AKI Food Truck, Pizza Stop, & Cinnamon Breeze in attendance to give people some great food options.
A thank you to all the volunteers who helped on the day.
Jim Powers, Kennedy Bryant, Anna Winedecker, Josie Parker, Erin Parker, Mia Snyder, Megan LaPlante, Grace D'Angelo, Rayan Essoulaimani, Adam Essoulaimani, Ryan Frangie, Imani Payne, Andrew Li, Giovanni Lopriggo, Richard Kouacou, Joseph Casale and Riley Kean.
To the businesses and organizations that help with the donation of goods.
Admar Construction Equipment, B95.5/Pamal Broadcasting, Cohoes Recreational Soccer, the City of Cohoes, and Tech Valley Office Interiors.
Events like these are the reason why we started Spindles United FC.
It's not all about winning games, but mostly about community.
Holding this free community event at our home base was our way of showing who we are, and why we are here.
And we are not going anywhere. Up the Spins.
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