Refferee blunder costs soccer a win

Written By:
Danielle Melville

Published:
Nov. 06 2009

After losing the game in the first round of the playoffs on October 29 the varsity boys soccer team was not too disappointed because they have improved greatly.

"At first everyone was playing for themselves but by the end of the season started working together more," senior captain Vladimir Alphonse said. "For example, Gaithersburg beat us 3-0 in the regular season, but during the playoff game we played a lot better; that’s why they only beat us by one point."

The boys got another win on October 14 against the Blake Bengals. The game started strong with first goal made by junior Rossel Ramos. Soon after, the Bengals made a goal. At the sound of the half time buzzer, the game was tied. Even though the game started slow, the Devils were making it hard for the oppisition. Efforts were low according to Coach Mike Saunders.

"I thought the game was slow at first. The team had little effort. Then the second half was a lot better. They played at the level expected," Saunders said.

After half time, the Blue Devils came back to the field with high energy and more intensity, ready to win the game. Junior Landry Pimba made the first goal of the second half in the first 30 seconds.

While the Bengals efforts were slowly fading, a third goal was made by senior Mubarak Mohamed. At the final buzzer the Devils were happy with the win.

After the Blake game, the Devil’s played Richard Montgomery losing 2-0. The next game was against Einstein, the team won the game 3-0. The last game of the regular season was supposed to be against Wheaton, but due to rain it was cancelled.

The first play-off game was on October 29, against Gaithersburg. The game was very intense from start to finish. In the first quarter, the Devils were in the lead with one goal and Gaithersburg with none. By the end of the second half the game was tied, 1-1 and it went into over time. Working together was one of the positive accomplishments of the team.

During overtime, the team was working harder to get the win. Gaithersburg got away with a goal, when the offsides infraction was supposed to be called.

The referee’s mistake, cost the Devils a win.

The offsides infraction possibly cost the Devils a first round playoff win, but either way, some team members feel as though it was not only the questionable call that potentially cost them the game.

"They had us on the run for most of the game but we had our share of opportunities. It was obvious that we needed more practice. We started working together late in the season. We should have started earlier," junior Marshall Botto said.