Controversial corner kick goal jump-starts Lindsay High’s drive to CIF Central Section Division III title match

Something had to give in the CIF Central Section Division III semifinal match Wednesday evening between host Lindsay High and visiting Kerman High.

Lindsay, seeded second, had never lost in 15 home matches on the artificial turf at Frank Skadan Stadium.

Third-seeded Kerman came in with a glitzy 27-1 record, whose only loss was 2-1 to Lindsay rival Farmersville in a tournament match.

In the end, senior forward Chris Macías delivered a hat trick to extend Lindsay High’s season in a hard-fought 4-1 win. Lindsay is now 21-3.

That sets up a rematch of last season’s section Division IV final against top-seeded Garcés High. The Bakersfield school scored a 4-1 win.

Lindsay and Kerman were locked in a tight match that was 1-0 through the first 55 minutes of play until a controversial corner kick gave Lindsay a 2-1 advantage.

“I’m not going to lie. I did try to hit it in, and it was kind of curving into the keeper. Then he hit it with his foot and it went in,” said Macías about the first of his three goals coming with about 24 minutes left in the game.

The Kerman bench and fans erupted into boos, thinking the ball had hit the side net.

Lindsay head coach Tony Godoy wasn’t sure what happened.

“I still don’t know what happened,” said Godoy. “I first thought it hit the side out of bounds, so I kind of glanced over to the sidelines to think of my next substitute. Next thing, everybody’s celebrating.”

Kerman head coach Raúl Arámbula called it a “questionable call.”

“It was a close game until they got the second goal. There seemed to be some confusion on that,” said Arámbula. “We kept the score 1-0 until that questionable call on the corner kick.

“It was just a bad set of events for us right after that. We lost a bit of our momentum. That call changed a lot of this game, and it went downhill after that for us.”

Macías, who came into the game with 22 goals, scored less than two minutes later and added another goal with less than three minutes left in the match.

A Kerman defender managed to break into the scoring column in the final two minutes of action.

Macías said the corner kick went in “100% certain.”

He called Kerman a “solid team.”

“Our team just played amazing, and Kerman is a solid team. You don’t go 27-1 for nothing,” said Macías. “We just came out, played our best and finished.”

Godoy was thankful for the corner kick goal.

“After that, we scored boom-boom,” he said, while crediting his team for whittling down Kerman’s size on defense. “They have some really huge guys in the back, so they were super good in the air. We couldn’t do anything in the air, but I told the guys not to be intimidated.

“Give Kerman credit. They had an incredible season.”

Arámbula said it is tough competing at Lindsay.

“I believe that had we played on grass, it could have been a different type of game; but no excuses,” said Arámbula. “We fought until the very end. I’m proud of my boys and I’m glad we went out fighting.”

Like Lindsay and Garcés, Kerman moved up a division for the section playoffs.

“It’s the same competition,” he said.

Godoy is hoping to reverse last year’s Division IV championship match against Garcés (17-1-1), whose only blemishes this season are a 1-0 loss and 0-0 tie against Southwest Yosemite League rival Stockdale High.

Stockdale, the top seed in Division II, hosts Golden Valley in the title match Friday.

“They kind of brought that game to us last year,” said Godoy of Garcés. “We’re familiar with them. Everybody knows how good of a program they have.”

Godoy wishes Lindsay had gotten the No. 1 in Division IV, and thus would have hosted Friday’s championship.

Kerman goalkeeper Ángel Nieto is looking forward to a rematch against Garcés.

“I’m ready to play them again and not get scored on,” said Nieto, who played the entire match against Garcés in last year’s Division IV final. “I was still developing as a goalie last year.”

Godoy is amazed by Nieto’s keen sense at the net.

“He’s so confident on the ball, with his hands. I’ve never had a goalie that’s so sure,” said Godoy. “In the past I’ve had keepers where I kind of like had a mini heart attack when the ball goes up in the air.

“But he’s so good in the air, and very, very calm with his feet.”

Nieto picked up his goalkeeping skills from his father.

“I learned from him when he started playing. I started learning from him on how to block and learn tactics and everything,” said Nieto.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 23 de febrero de 2022, 11:52 p. m..