Memorial Soccer Tournament Set To Honor Teen Killed By Drunk Driver

Teams are finalized for the Third Annual Matthew Logan Scarpati Memorial Soccer Tournament, which honors the memory of the 19-year-old Half Hollow Hills graduate who was struck and killed in 2009 by a drunk driver.

Members of the Half Hollow Hills community and soccer fans will crowd the fields at High School East, Saturday, June 9, as 28 teams compete for the championship title.

The Tournament was created to memorialize the local teen, who was an avid soccer player and member of the high school's varsity team. In July 2009, a drunken motorcyclist veered off of the road, struck and killed Scarpati, who was changing a flat bicycle tire on the Wantagh Bike Path, which runs adjacent to the Wantagh Parkway. The drunk driver was convicted of his crimes this past October, and sentenced to between three and nine years in prison.

The tournament, hosted by the Miles for Matt Foundation and HBC Soccer, serves to benefit the Miles for Matt Foundation, a non-profit organization created in Matt’s memory by the Scarpati family.

In 2010, the foundation pledged at least $25,000 of its tournament funds to Sunrise Day Camp, a free day camp dedicated to serving children with cancer and their siblings. The camp will be naming a soccer field in Scarpati’s honor this summer. The foundation has also provided scholarships to the University of Buffalo, the Half Hollow Hills School District, Long Island Junior Soccer League, along with donations to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and others.

This year's tournament brings together teams from all over Long Island, including those from Jericho, Wantagh, Southampton, Connetquot, amongst many other schools, club teams from around the state, and alumni teams from around Long Island in a 7 v 7 tournament.

For more information, including how to sponsor or donate to the tournament, please visit www.mlstourney.com.