Soccer Player Is Charged for Kicking Rival in Head : Sports: It is apparently the first time in state that criminal counts are filed against an athlete for violence on the field.

A soccer player at a prestigious private school was charged with assault and battery Friday for kicking a rival in the head--apparently the first time that criminal charges have been filed in California against an athlete for violence on the playing field.

Dwight Angelini, 17, of Harvard-Westlake High School of Studio City, was accused of deliberately kicking Ryan Herrera, of Notre Dame High School of Sherman Oaks, in an attack caught on videotape during a Feb. 3 match.

Angelini, who plans to attend Yale University and play soccer there, was charged with one count of felony assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and one of felony battery with serious bodily injury.

The difference between a felony charge and a misdemeanor is minimal in juvenile cases because, unlike in adult cases, there is no chance that the youth would be sentenced to a state prison, said Dan Murphy, director of special operations for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors will not ask that Angelini be sent to a California Youth Authority camp or other confinement, Murphy said. “The probable outcome is that this young man, who does not have any prior contacts with the law, will probably be placed on probation.”

Neither Angelini nor his attorney, Roger Rosen, were available for comment Friday.

Experts were unaware of another case in California in which criminal charges were filed against an athlete for an on-field incident.

“This case is quite different,” Murphy said. “The evidence in this case is real clear. This is a gratuitous kick to the face that lifts the young man off ground and renders him unconscious. It is far away from the play, and we were unable to determine any provocation by (Herrera).”

The evidence that led to the charges was a videotape of the event made by a parent of one of Hererra’s teammates.

On the tape, after a Harvard-Westlake player throws the ball into the field of play, Angelini and Herrera appear in the lower right-hand portion of the frame, about five yards from the ball.

Herrera is on the ground on his hands and knees, and Angelini is standing over him. Angelini, nowhere near the ball, then kicks Herrera on the right side of the head. Herrera’s head snaps with the force of the kick. He slumps to the ground, grabbing his head.

Herrera was taken to a hospital by ambulance, treated for a concussion and released that night.

“In filing these charges, we have carefully considered the wide scope of contact which occurs during sporting events at all levels of experience, from Little League to professional sports,” Murphy said in a statement.

“The assault committed in this case occurred . . . where such a deliberate, violent act far exceeds the bounds of anyone’s definition of sportsmanlike conduct and is clearly beyond the bounds of any reasonable expectation of contact.”

Herrera, a junior, did not play for the remainder of the season. He said Friday that he still suffers from intense headaches and neck pain when he tries to play soccer.

Angelini was ejected from the February match--his fourth ejection of the season and third in three matches--and dismissed from the team. He was also suspended from school for two days. His coach, Barclay Mackinnon, was suspended from coaching for a week.

Angelini went to a Notre Dame practice the day after the incident and apologized to the team.

The Herrera family praised the decision to file criminal charges but said they plan to file a civil suit against Harvard-Westlake for possible negligence.