MIDDLETOWN — There were upset players and coaches on both sides of the field when the final whistle blew signaling an end to the battle that raged between Middletown and Willits in a North Central League North boys” soccer match Thursday in Middletown.
The final score, a 2-2 tie, left the Wolverines sighing because they thought they should have had a win instead of a tie. Meanwhile the Mustangs, now 1-3-1 in the North standings, were fuming over the officiating and an injury to their ace striker, Jason Candelario, two things that certainly didn”t help them in the match.
Candelario, whose fast feet and excellent ballhandling has accounted for the majority of the Mustangs” goals this season, fell with an ankle injury following a slide tackle by a Willits player in the ninth minute of play. It led to Middletown”s first goal of the match, a penalty kick by Jason Hill.
But despite complaints to the officials by both coaches regarding the lack of calls for rough play, it wasn”t until some 15 minutes later that the cards — yellow and red — started flying. First, Willits co-captain Marcos Lopez drew a yellow, then Middletown”s Chen Lehner received a red, and was ejected, a call that surprised both teams because Lehner wasn”t even involved in the play in question.
“I try to teach my players that throwing elbows is a foul, but it”s up to those guys (the officials) to make the calls,” Willits coach Stan Dunst said of the play that led up to the red card.
Dunst, who recently arrived from Tucson where he officiated and coached high school soccer, said he is disappointed that there are so few soccer officials in both Lake and Mendocino counties. Thursday”s match was played with only two officials — a third assigned official failed to show.
“It (officiating) was terrible, a disaster,” said Middletown assistant coach Jivan Dicovski, who was filling in for head coach Lee Hoage.
Dicovski said he has no idea why the officials gave a red card to Lehner, who had no part in the rough play that led up to the card being issued.
“I”m clueless why they did it,” he said.
Lehner will now have to sit out the Mustangs” next game as well.
The Wolverines tied the game at 1-1 in the opening minutes of the second half as Tom Dalske took a Sergio Perez pass and drilled the ball into the far post from the corner of the penalty area.
Taking the ball downfield, the Mustangs moved ahead 2-1 in the 51st minute on a William Phelps shot.
Willits tied the game 2-all in the 65th minute when another Mustang player went down on the field, which left an opening for the Wolverines” Victor Perez to chip the ball into the back of the Mustang goal.
The final minutes of the match turned into a stalemate as both teams battled for control and were left with missed opportunities to score.
