I wrapped up the college soccer reffing season with one final game last night. I was AR1 for the Hastings College vs. Midland Lutheran mens match in Hastings. It turned out to be a very exciting match. As one of the Hastings coaches put it before the match, you never want to play the same team three times in a season. Hastings had already handily beaten Midland twice earlier in the year. Saturday's victory wasn't so easy.
Midland scored first in the tight match, but Hastings came right back just a couple minutes later to tie it up. Hastings dominated control most of the game, but it was Midland that missed the most scoring opportunities, hitting the post two or three times in the match. The first 90 minutes ended in a 1-1 tie.
The 20 minutes of extra time ended without any additional scores. As they did for much of the second half, Midland played not to lose rather than to win. It wasn't necessarily a bad strategy, in that Hastings was obviously the larger offensive threat. But it sure would have been nice to see Midland take a few more risks to try to win the game.
Following overtime came kicks from the mark. The high tension was only made worse by the fact that the wind was blowing so hard that the ball would not sit still prior to the kicks. Each kick, which should have taken at most one minute (for the kicker to walk up, place the ball, prepare himself, and kick) ended up taking several. One player had to reset the ball at least a dozen times. But the rules don't allow for the ball to be secured or held in any way, so there was nothing we as the referees could do.
Hastings ended up winning thanks to two Midland misfires and one blocked shot, while only one of Hastings' shots was blocked. The better team won, but only barely.
I'm glad I got the opportunity to referee college soccer this year. I had a blast, I learned a lot, and I met some great referees I had never before wor
ked with. I even managed to get a center this year, thanks to a fellow referee's injury. I'm already looking forward to next fall. Who knows, maybe in a couple years I'll even get to center a Creighton men's match. That would be an incredible experience, and it would represent the best competition I will be able to center in this area.
Probably the best thing about the end of the season is that it ended on a high note. With all the tension and drama involved in the Hastings/Midland game, it would have been a shame to be involved in a referee-related controversy. I dreaded negating a goal due to a controversial offside call, for example. As it turned out, the only hubbub I caused was when I gave the ball to the defense rather than the offense on one particular throw-in. Judging by the reactions of the participants I'm pretty sure I blew that call. But of all the decisions I made last night, if that was the only mistake I made, I'm not going to complain. I think each of the referees had one mistake apiece last night, all of which were minor. All in all, it was a great match to finish up the season.
Comments
See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
No comments yet! Be the first.
Share your thoughts with the community.
Commenting is no longer permitted on this post.