Ithaca soccer players take part in Corning community fundraiser

Ithaca and Corning have shared a strong rivalry over the years, especially on the soccer pitch. But last month, the two adversaries put their differences aside for a greater cause.

On December 27, multiple Little Red alumni took part in the fourth annual Lurie Cup, an indoor soccer tournament held at the Corning YMCA. All the proceeds from the event go directly to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, for which they’ve donated over $11,200 this year and $30,000 during the tournament’s four-year run.

The Lurie Cup was first organized by Rohan Amin, a 2025 Corning graduate who currently attends Cornell University. When he was two years old, doctors discovered that Amin’s blood was not correctly flowing from his liver to his spleen. He was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital to have life-saving Rex shunt surgery, and putting together this tournament was his way of giving back.

The tournament brought together all ages and backgrounds of soccer players from Upstate New York, including a strong contingent of Ithacans. In fact, one of the Ithaca-based teams—Ithaca FC—made it all the way to the final. 

Several Ithaca High School alumni took part in the event, including Aliou Cisse (Class of 2023, currently plays at St. Michael’s College), Iago Lopez (Class of 2024, also plays at St. Michael’s College), Mazin Abdallah (Class of 2025, attends Ithaca College), Hickory Selin, Leonard Levy, Matthew Wirtz (all Class of 2025 students who attend Cornell University), and Nicolas Poelling (Class 2025, attends Binghamton University).