SOCCER ROUNDUP : In a Word--Defending Champions Are Out

Confusion reigned Wednesday when the Garfield and Jefferson boys’ soccer teams celebrated on the sidelines after a scoreless tie at Jefferson. Both teams believed they had clinched the Central League title and the No. 1 seed from the Southeastern Conference.

The problem stemmed from Garfield’s controversial 3-1 win Monday over Roosevelt that was overturned Thursday by the City Section office.

In that game, Garfield Coach Anthony Critelli was ejected in the second half after muttering a profanity about an official’s call. Critelli’s Bulldogs were trailing 1-0 at the time.

Roosevelt Coach Miguel Roura told the officials the game should be stopped and the Roughriders should be awarded the victory. Critelli said nothing in the rules states that a team must forfeit if its coach is ejected. But Critelli quoted from a soccer rulebook, not a City Section handbook.

Play continued and Garfield exploded to win, 3-1.

With that victory, Garfield entered the Wednesday match with 14 points and Jefferson with 13. With that one-point edge, Critelli instructed his team to play for a tie. Jefferson believed it needed a tie to claim the top seed because Garfield would be forced to forfeit the Monday match.

When the playoff meetings arrived Thursday, Garfield was selected because it finished first in the Central League. Fourteen other teams automatically qualified for the playoffs and two others teams were paired off for a wild-card game. Then Roosevelt Coach Miguel Roura, who arrived late to the meeting, asked whether Garfield forfeited its game to Roosevelt, explaining that Critelli was ejected.

City Section Athletic Director Hal Harkness double-checked his rule book, which states that a team forfeits its game if the coach is ejected.

Jefferson, which originally did not make the playoffs as a wild-card team, qualified as the new Central League champion and Garfield, the defending City Section champion, was knocked out.

One word eliminated Garfield from playoff competition.

With both teams going into the Wednesday game in non-attacking positions, midfield defensive action dominated most of the match.

Scoring opportunities for the Democrats came early on perfect passing combinations from strikers Alfredo Hernandez, Welter Martinez and Jose Vargas.

Bulldog goalie Froilan Gutierrez made seven close saves, including a ball he knocked over the goal’s crossbar on a header from Martinez. But Bulldog sweeper Tony Guriel paralyzed most of the Democrat advances. Guriel consistently executed clean stops, blasting the ball out of danger or feeding the ball to his offense for counterattacks.

Second-half action was slower than in the first half, but Garfield had more chances to score. Striker Miguel Gomez ripped through the Democrat midfield several times to feed the ball to Francisco Corona, but neither was able to convert as Jefferson goalkeeper Jose Velasquez held on to save six assaults.

Roosevelt 1, Garfield 0--After Critelli was ejected from the game, the Bulldogs rallied with three second-half scores Monday from Hector Villareal, Jose Gomez and Guriel. Guriel’s score came on a penalty kick after teammate Danny Aguilar was tripped in the penalty box.

All of Garfield’s (5-3-2 in league) scoring was nullied by Thursday’s ruling.

Alfonso Fuentes scored the only goal for Roosevelt (5-3-2, 7-4-2).