Orchard Park soccer goalie Jordan DiLapo earned a spot on the FC Buffalo roster. At just 16 years of age, DiLapo was the team’s youngest player.

OPHS goalie earns chance to play among top players

Originally published on July 8, 2011

Jordan DiLapo

Jordan DiLapo has already shown that he can defend the high school soccer net, but now the Orchard Park teenager is showing off his skills while defending the goal of the FC Buffalo Blitzers in the National Premier Soccer League.

DiLapo, who will be a senior at Orchard Park High School this fall, has been the starting goalkeeper for the boys soccer team for two years. FC Buffalo head coach Dan Krzyzanowicz asked him to try out for his team, and DiLapo earned a spot on a roster that already featured two goalies.

DiLapo and Krzyzanowicz have been familiar with each other for years: both worked at various soccer camps. Krzyzanowicz has been the director of coaching for the Orchard Park Soccer Club since January 2010 and will begin his 10th season as the head men’s soccer coach at Medaille College this fall.

The FC Buffalo organization, formed by three local soccer enthusiasts, Scott Frauenhofer, Ryan Knapp and Nick Mendola, is dedicated to the growth of both soccer and community in the Western New York area through a commitment to the blue collar work ethic.

The team plays in the Northeast Keystone Conference of the National Premier Soccer League, a professionally operated league sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation, the ruling body for soccer in the U.S., and FIFA, the world’s ruling body for soccer. The FC Buffalo roster boasts top players from the University at Buffalo, Marist College and Cornell University, among others.

DiLapo, who will turn 17 in September, is the youngest player on the Blitzers. He made his mark when he debuted on June 10 in a contest against the New Jersey Blaze.

FC Buffalo won the game, 3-1, with the help of a momentum-stopping penalty kick save by DiLapo.

“I felt a lot of pressure,” DiLapo said of the penalty kick which took place with FC Buffalo leading by two goals with roughly 15 minutes left. “A goal would’ve given them a lot of momentum.”

DiLapo has started four more games since his first win.

On June 25, DiLapo held the Pocono Snow to no goals in a 0-0 tie, and on July 2 allowed just one goal in a 1-0 loss to the Reading Revolution.

He also saw 10 minutes of work in the Lord Bedlington Cup, a highly publicized friendly game between FC Buffalo and the Bedlington Terriers of England, a team whose popularity has grown since being sponsored by Buffalo billionaire Bob Rich.

FC Buffalo defeated Bedlington, 5-1, in the game that was played on Wednesday, June 29.

“It’s a phenomenal experience playing with the talent that was on the field,” said DiLapo, the son of Tristan and Debbie. “It showed the potential that Western New York (soccer) has. I’m so glad I got the time and the experience.”

The game drew an incredible 3,821 spectators at Buffalo’s Robert E. Rich All High Stadium, where FC Buffalo plays its home games.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” DiLapo said of the game. “It’s one of the biggest games I’ve been a part of and played in. We had a huge turnout and we performed.”

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