Controversial officiating leaves boys soccer defeated 2-1 in home debut

The Samo boys soccer team ran out onto their home field on Tuesday Dec. 1 for their first game of the season. The Varsity squad was to take on Crespi, and they had been preparing for months in preparation for the beginning of season.According to team captain and defender Mostafa Diab (’16), the boys felt prepared going into the game due to strong routines that the team had been familiarized with prior to the start of the season.“The team has been training immensely and intensely for the past few months, ever since last season ended,” said Diab. “We have been training on average 6 intense days every week in in an attempt to be our best when game day arrives. Finally, once that day arrives, everyone individually undergoes their own rituals to get ready.”At the start of the match, both teams looked great, moving the ball quickly and running up and down the field with great speed. Then, fairly early on into the match, Crespi sent a ball flying towards Samo’s goal. There was a group of players in front of the goal, and somewhere in the commotion, the ball slipped into Samo’s goal. The goal was confirmed which left Samo feeling cheated as, according to team captain defender Max Foucaut (’15), a Crespi player pushed Samo’s goalie, who was holding the ball, into his own net, which is an illegal play and therefore should not have been a goal.Now, trailing 0-1, Samo maintained their fast play in hopes to even up the match with a goal of their own. They had some great looks on the offensive side, but none materialized into goals. At halftime, both teams regrouped on the sidelines, and the quick pace picked right back up as they came out for the final 45 minutes.Neither team was putting together consistent attacks, but Samo was having more possessions than Crespi. Then, once again, Crespi launched the ball from a far distance towards Samo’s goal. Coming in from the right sideline, the ball seemed to hit the football field goal post, bounce in front of the net, and then was tipped in by the head of a Crespi player. The play happened very fast and the fact that the ball hit the field goal post must not have been clear to the referee, who ruled it a goal. Baffled Samo players pleaded with the referee while  furious head coach Corey Prost argued the call from the sideline. Yet again, though the team was shocked, they didn’t let the call keep them down,“As a whole, we refused to put our heads down and we pushed ourselves until the very end,” Foucaut said.Samo did continue to fight, and eventually they broke through when midfielder Owen Koetters (’18) managed to put a strong shot past the Crespi defense, resulting in a goal for Samo. Down 1-2, Samo tried to tie up the match, but they couldn’t claw back in time.Samo will try to forget about this loss as they host Gardena on Thursday.