PREP SOCCER ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar Wins Penalty-Filled Match
The second half of the Corona del Mar and Saddleback boys’ soccer match Friday was stopped by the referees with about 10 minutes remaining after players from both teams had been ejected.
The host Sea Kings won the Sea View League match, 1-0, but not before three players had been ejected.
The problems began 17 minutes into the second half. Corona del Mar’s Bill Rimmer was given a red card and ejected after a spitting incident. Saddleback’s Julio Orozco was given a yellow card for his involvement in the incident. Then the referee told Saddleback Coach Mel Silva that a mistake had been made, and Orozco should have been given a red card. Orozco then was ejected.
The ball was subsequently put in play, but shortly after, one referee signaled that Saddleback had 10 players on the field. Saddleback’s Jorge Guerrero was ejected for arguing with a referee as play stopped.
The referees then abandoned the game because they said there were too many Saddleback players on the field.
“They called it early because Saddleback had 10 men on the field--they (Saddleback coaches) took him (the player) off and then they put him on (back on the field),” said Corona del Mar Coach Ray Hales. “They snuck another guy on.”
Mel Silva, the Saddleback coach, said he hadn’t substituted players on the field and that there were not 10 men on the field.
“The referee said to me, ‘I’m terminating the game because you have too many men on the field,” Silva said. “I had nine out there. I told the referee to count them and he said, ‘No.’ ”
There was also a problem with the ejection of Orozco.
“I told the referee that you have to show a yellow card when you card a kid, but he said, ‘I don’t have to show it,” Silva said.
“It is bad enough when you have to play a tough team, but then you have to put up with this stuff. . . . They (the referees) have got to control the game and be on top of everything.”
Hales also said the crowd on the Corona del Mar side was a problem.
“It was getting too close to the line,” he said. “The game got way out of hand. The referee was right to call the game.”
The referees at the match refused to comment.
Corona del Mar (14-2-1, 1-1 and ranked third in the county) came out strong in the match, attacking Saddleback’s goal. Corona del Mar’s Tanner Rupp scored for the Sea Kings 16 minutes into the first half on a straight kick from 18 yards out. Saddleback is 5-4, 1-1.
Saddleback’s Javier Orosco, who was injured in the first half of the match, was taken to Hoag Hospital with a mild concussion. He was treated and released.