Central soccer celebrates first title but amid controversy and fan outrage toward refs

The Central High boys soccer team captured the school’s first Central Section championship in dramatic fashion Friday night.

Then immediately after the game, more drama spilled off the field as fans rushed toward the officiating crew.

Grizzlies sophomore Kaylob Walker jumped and headed in the winning goal during the sudden-death period as No. 4-seeded Central beat No. 7 Ridgeview 3-2 in the Division I title game at Koligian Stadium.

“It’s unbelievable,” said senior Ryan Rosas, who scored Central’s first two goals. “We’ve been wanting it for a long time. It was so nerve-racking. I couldn’t believe it.”

Afterward, Ridgeview players, coaches and fans became visibly upset about a noncall by the referees on the final play — livid that the sideline official raised his flag on the play but nothing was done to call off the deciding goal.

One Wolf Pack player and the same sideline ref had to be separated from each other immediately after the game. A different ref climbed over a fence to get away from fans.

Video footage shot by The Bee shows Walker is clearly past the second-to-last Ridgeview defender when he receives the ball and heads in the game winner.

An offside, however, is determined by where an offensive player is located in relation to the second-to-last defender when the ball is struck.

Fan footage appears to show all Grizzlies players are on side when Central’s Israel Cano strikes a free kick for the winning assist.

On the score, though, the sideline ref clearly did raise his flag.

“We got robbed,” Ridgeview senior Kevin Cazares said.

A raised flag often is the first of two signals that an offside has been committed.

But for an offside to be called, the ref also must execute a second signal by lowering his/her flag and pointing it toward the player in violation, according to Scott Hammack, soccer supervisor of the San Joaquin Valley Officials Association.

In this case, Hammack explained that the sideline official raised his flag then attempted to run toward midfield, which is the officiating mechanic that “the ball had left the field of play.”

Or in this case, the sideline ref’s attempt to run toward the middle of the field was to indicate the ball had crossed the goal line and a goal had been scored, Hammack said.

“When you watch the video, there’s the free kick, and then the header, then the ball goes over the goalkeeper and hits the top cross bar and bounces past the line,” Hammack said Sunday evening. “By running toward midfield, the side official was signaling the ball had crossed the goal line.

“Except, he slipped while he was trying to run toward midfield and away from the flag. But one thing he doesn’t do is lower his flag and point it at a player to signify an offside. He never was trying to call an offside.”

“It looked like he called offside and people stopped playing,” Ridgeview coach Phil Collignon said. “But, I’m not going to blame the refs. It is what it is. That’s how the game goes.”

The Wolf Pack, however, also were upset that all three of the Grizzlies’ goals were preceded by a called foul on Ridgeview that allowed Central to set up a free kick.

Administrators from both schools tried calming the upset fans, while at least three parents from the Central side escorted the refs out of the facility and to their cars.

Hammack said he has sent the CIF Central Section office an official letter about the post-game reaction toward the officials.

“Those officials felt they were in danger,” Hammack said. “My concern is that this is an epidemic throughout the country involving officials. We do not want this getting out of control over here.”

After both teams were shut out during the first half, Ridgeview (17-6-1) got on the scoreboard first with about 30 minutes left in the second half.

But the Grizzlies (24-7-1), who spent the majority of the game attacking, tied it with 8:36 on the clock. Rosas’ 18-yard shot off a free kick was blocked, but he corralled the rebound and booted in a goal and eventually forced overtime.

In the second overtime, Ridgeview claimed a 2-1 lead with 2:24 on the clock.

Moments later, though, Central tied the score on Rosas’ free kick from about 20 yards with his shot sailing to the top, left corner of the goal.

The Grizzlies then limited the Wolf Pack to long shots from 30-plus yards during sudden death.

Cano’s free kick assist to Walker for the winning goal was preceded by Central forward Antonio Lepe falling to the ground and triggering a penalty on Ridgeview.

“I had faith in the guys to get it done,” Central co-coach Chris Young said. “I had faith that those set pieces were going to be our money makers.

“First Valley championship in Central’s history and if anyone deserves it, it’s these guys. They’re a special group.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 10:47 PM.