A boys soccer coach in California has unintentionally ended his own team's season prematurely because of his own bad behavior in a playoff game, despite his team winning the game according to the final scoreline.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles (Calif.) Foshay Learning Center was eliminated from the California Interscholastic Federation City Section Small School boys soccer playoffs after the team's head coach was ejected from his team's quarterfinal matchup against Los Angeles (Calif.) Annenberg High. The coach's ejection came when he received not one, but two yellow cards for his actions on the sideline.
As in all soccer matches, the coach's two yellow cards meant that he received a red card, and was ejected. By City Section rules, that ejection of a head coach meant that the game was officially over, with Annenberg the winner by default.
However, that initial ruling didn't stop the teams from finishing the game on the field, with Foshay using an assistant coach for the remainder of the contest. The match finished in a 1-1 deadlock, but Foshay eventually won on penalty kicks.
Despite that victory on merit, the City Section deemed that Annenberg would advance because of Lopez's red card.
Because the rules governing the ejection of a coach were well established, it's hard to argue with Times high school sports writer Eric Sondheimer's contention that Foshay parents should be upset with their own coach rather than City Section officials.
No matter who parents are most displeased with, it won't help re-start what had been a promising Foshay season, with the Wolverines' players having to come to grips with a premature season's end through no fault of their own.
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