COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER: No charges filed stemming from fight following NIC-Salt Lake match
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 32 minutes AGO
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
No charges were filed as of Friday afternoon, but several players from both teams were suspended, following an altercation at the conclusion of a Sept. 26 Scenic West Athletic Conference men's soccer match between Salt Lake Community College and North Idaho College at the Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley.
According to a police report by the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Department, officers were called to the Coeur Center at 2:30 p.m. after witnesses believed the match was getting physical and that an altercation might occur.
When officers arrived on scene, Salt Lake goalkeeper Ariel Martinez was being ejected due to receiving a red card in the 74th minute of the game. Per conference rules, any player who is ejected from the match must return to the team’s locker room.
Two other players — one from each team — had been ejected earlier in the match but were outside watching the game. Officers requested those players return to the locker room.
When the game ended in a 1-1 draw, players from both NIC and Salt Lake were witnessed shoving each other. As officers approached the field, Martinez, who played for NIC last season, hopped over a fence and shoulder-checked NIC sophomore Berkan Kuepelikilinc, sparking a fight between the teams, according to the report.
After officers cleared the field, Salt Lake returned to its locker room, while NIC remained on the field.
The Salt Lake players and coaches were escorted to their team bus and, after a search to ensure all Bruin players had left, NIC players were allowed to leave the field.
Friday evening, NIC athletic director Shawn Noel told The Press that Kuepelikilinc and Cardinal teammates Rabi Helmand, Israel Joseph, Lennox Kern and Caden Pennock were each suspended two games for their roles in the incident, and Andrea DiMarcello was suspended one game.
"From my understanding, Salt Lake had numerous players suspended as well from this incident," Noel said.
Messages to Salt Lake athletic director Gary Veron went unreturned.
Officials from the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association), of which NIC and Salt Lake are members, declined comment. Officials from the Scenic West didn't respond to requests for comment.
NIC, ranked ninth in this week’s NJCAA poll, and Salt Lake, ranked fourth, are scheduled to meet in the regular season finale on Oct. 24 at the Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah.