THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: A rule, a solution offered and a lesson learned

Everyone involved admits an officiating mistake was made during Monday’s 4A Region 1 high school boys soccer match between the Lakeland Hawks and Moscow Bears in Moscow.

An error that cost Lakeland a victory, and a chance to play for a regional title and a trip to state.

As for rectifying that error:

The Hawks had a pretty good idea how to do that, but the rule book said no.

To review:

With some 2 minutes left in the second, sudden-death overtime at Moscow School District Community Playfields, a Lakeland player scored on a penalty kick. The Hawks rushed the field, thinking they had won.

When a penalty kick is taken, the rest of the players are supposed to be outside of the penalty area until the ball is kicked. If the PK is unsuccessful, play continues — so if, say, the ball bounces off the keeper or the post and does not go out of bounds, the ball is live, and anyone on the field can play it next, so it behooves players to be ready for a “rebound.”

One of the linesmen said a Lakeland player had entered the penalty area before the kick. The NFHS rule book states, in that case, the PK is retaken.

BUT, AFTER consultation with another official, the ball was given to Moscow for a goal kick.

A couple minutes later, the second overtime ended with the game still scoreless. The teams went to penalty kicks, and Moscow won the shootout 5-3.

Lakeland protested the game Tuesday morning.

“Our solution was, based on the misapplication of the rule, let our kid go down there and take a penalty kick,” Lakeland athletic director Matt Neff said. “If we make it, we win; if not, we accept the outcome, Moscow beat us in penalty kicks, and we move forward.”

Neff said Moscow’s AD agreed with Lakeland’s solution.

Neff protested the game to the Idaho High School Activities Association. Julie Hammons, the IHSAA soccer director, denied the request.

(LONG STORY short — Rule 14-1, under Protests, says “Contest decisions made by sports officials are final and may not be protested.” In the end, the Hawks learned they needed to protest the match before the officials left the field after the match. Once the refs are gone, the match is official.)

“She said if we were to do this, when we have other situations where rules are misapplied … we basically are opening ourselves up to where we’re replaying everything,” Neff said.

Neff said Hammons suggested appealing her decision to the full IHSAA Board of Directors, which consists of 15 members statewide.

That was Neff’s next move.

“I just want to make sure for my coaches, our program, parents, athletes that we exhaust every effort. Everybody admits there’s a wrong.”

That appeal to the IHSAA board was also denied.

With the solution Lakeland suggested, the Hawks were trying to take some of the heat off officials.

“I’m a little different,” Neff said. “The thing I struggle with — and I say this genuinely out of respect to officials — if an official makes a mistake, and we don’t right that wrong, if we have the ability to, then really what we’re saying is, we’re putting it on the official, at a time where we’re struggling to get officials. At this point, ADs, commissioners, board of controls, IHSAA, you take it out of the hands of the officials and say we’re going to look at this … and we’re going to decide this on the field.

“Allow that official to admit they made their mistake, which he did … but now since we’re not righting that wrong … I actually think that’s not good for officials, because now you’ve kind of created an open season on officials a little bit … I think it leads to more confrontation, I think it leads to less sportsmanship, because we did nothing.”

NEFF SAID he was at a Lakeland School Board meeting Monday night when his phone “blew up.” Tuesday morning, he started making calls, to see if something could be done about Monday’s error.

Lakeland’s girls soccer team was already scheduled to play at Moscow on Tuesday in a 4A Region 1 semifinal, so Lakeland figured there were already going to be officials there, to govern over the Hawks’ retaken penalty kick.

“We provided a solution that I feel was fair, and both schools were in agreement,” Neff said. “I think you have to find an avenue where games are decided on the field, and not by officials, especially at a time around the state when we’re having ad campaigns to get people to officiate, and we have a case where the official is the sole determinant of a game. I think it hurts us moving forward with those relationships between fans and officials.

“I think we had an opportunity … what you do in those situations, you make a mistake, you make it right. We’re not making that right.”

In the end, Neff and the Lakeland coaches can take some solace that the Hawks’ soccer programs — both boys’ and girls’ — are improving.

And, had the rule been interpreted properly, Lakeland’s boys could have won that game, and moved one step closer to their first state berth since 2015.

“Lesson learned, we’ll have a rule book with us, so if we ever got in that situation again … we’re going to look at the book,” Neff said. “At this point it’s more of the principle of it, and I can say to parents and athletes, I exhausted every avenue I could to seek justice. I want to exhaust every effort to advocate for my team, when they’re in the right.

“We’ll accept it and move forward.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.