Helenites Sports Club of St Croix, USVI retained the United States Virgin Islands Club Football Championship on Sunday 26th February when they defeated New Vibes Football Club, a Saint Lucian team based in St Thomas,USVI, 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the teams were deadlocked 3-3. Helenites & USVI national team goalkeeper Dillon Pieffer saved one penalty and tournament MVP Jonah "Fus" Lesmond (pictured above) converted the winning kick to spark mass celebrations from the Helenites fans who had made the trip to St Thomas for the weekend tournament.
Lesmond,cousin of Helenites and USVI captain Alderman Lesmond who is away on military duty in Afghanistan, dazzled New Vibes with a hat trick to runaway with the MVP of the tournament, following in the footsteps of his cousin who achieved the same feat in 2007 vs the same opponents. The other penalties for Helenites were converted by Chad St Croix, Danny "Sansi" Michael, Nathan "Baba' Justin & Tremain "SP" Paul.
Helenites walked away with the championship trophy & US$4000 in prize money. New Vibes received US$2500 and runners up trophy. These two teams have had among their ranks many former & current Saint Lucia National players like Emerson "Tiloy" JnMarie, Junior "Patch" Laurencin, Marlon Wilton, Andy "Bootoo" JnBaptiste, Chad St Croix, Danny Michael & Tremain "SP" Paul.
There are two football club competitions running in US Virgin Islands: the St Croix Soccer League and the St Thomas League. The champion of the US Virgin Islands is decided in a knockout tournament between the best two teams of each league. 9,000 capacity Lionel Roberts Park is one of the main venues for football in the Virgin Islands.
(With Brian McDonald, Radio Saint Lucia)
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