The second half of the season began with Anderson Valley having only one loss to-date, but with the three draws in league play. A continuing inability to score goals with any sort of regularity meant that the game at Sonoma Academy was far from a foregone conclusion despite the earlier 4-0 win over the Coyotes when they visited the Valley.
The game developed like so many others this year, and regular readers of this column and fans of the team will know what that means — a dominant Panther team in terms of possession but without the necessary clinical finishing in front of the opponent’s goal that is needed to put the game away.
On this occasion AV even managed to miss a penalty kick when the usually reliable Erik Martinez tamely placed his kick within easy reach of the Coyote ‘keeper. The game looked to be heading for yet another tie when, in the dying seconds of the match, that same Martinez ran forward from his midfield position and latched on to a pass through the defense by Juan Lua before Erik placed the ball into the corner of the net. The referee blew his whistle to end the game just moments later and it finished 1-0 to AV with the collective sigh of relief from the Panther squad and coach quite possibly audible to the grazing cows among the surrounding Santa Rosa hillsides.
Friday afternoon saw the annual visit to the Valley of Point Arena, a team that has slipped to the lower division but one that always seems to give AV trouble. In yet another déjà vu experience, the Panthers completely dominated the game in terms of possession but with just one goal in each half, coming from Erik Martinez, with an assist by Pancho Lievanos, and Efrain Espinoza, following fine work by Carlos Espinoza, it finished 2-0 to AV, another “ugly” win was achieved. As many people keep telling me, a win is a win, and they are right, but…
Finally last week, it was a non-league battle that took place at Tom Smith Field on Saturday afternoon when long-time rivals, and perennial powerhouse, Fort Bragg, left fog-eating country out on the coast and visited the Valley for the annual match-up. And what a match-up it turned out to be.
In the opening half the skills, effort, decision-making, and team spirit all came together for AV and as a result the team played their best 40 minutes of the season, against a very good Timberwolves side. Co-Captain and defensive stalwart Manny Almeida arrived late after taking his SAT test and was promptly sent on as a forward to perhaps conjure up a goal that would break the deadlock. A few minutes later the move paid huge dividends when he charged down two clearances, the first by a defender then immediately after that by the ‘keeper, and was left with the easy task of putting the ball into the empty goal, which he did with some aplomb. 1-0 to AV at the half.
The second half saw Fort Bragg come out strong and put the Panther team under continuous pressure, but with the sure-handed Christian Mendoza in goal and the excellent central defensive pairing of Justin Soto and Abraham Sanchez holding firm, the danger seemed to pass and AV gradually re-asserted themselves.
However, following a Fort Bragg attack which had been dealt with capably by the Panther defense, the second referee, who was 50 yards from the play, called a foul in the penalty area against an AV defender for what appeared to everyone else, including all 22 players on the field and the coaches and bench players on both teams, to be a completely incorrect call. As coach, I was somewhat annoyed and expressed feelings of dismay and disbelief at the official’s call, without any profanity being used, I should add. I received a yellow card for this protest.
Justice was done moments later when Mendoza saved the spot-kick and it remained 1-0 to AV. Nevertheless, in the ensuing melée following Mendoza’s save, a Panther was illegally hammered to the ground but when he shared his feelings to the referee about the non-call he too received a yellow card. I concurred with this player’s annoyance with this latest decision (if not his way of expressing it), and again addressed the performance of the official, suggesting he was “over-officiating” and unduly influencing the outcome of the game rather than allowing the players to do so. The worst word I used was ‘bullsh*t’ but this proved too much for the referee’s short fuse and he gave me a second yellow card, and thus a red, meaning I was dismissed from the field. Fortunately, for home games, I often have an assistant coach, Nikola Milojevich, who took over the team for the remaining 20 minutes.
This period saw another shocking decision by the officials when goal scorer Almeida also received a red card following an innocuous challenge on the over-protected Timberwolves’ ‘keeper. Down to ten men, and with their coach watching from the parking lot, the Panthers battled on with great determination and resilience and held on to gain a thoroughly deserved 1-0 victory. I apologized to the team for my red card and the poor example I had set, and then listened to their humorous jibes, and the gracious opposing coach, and many in the departing crowd, as they expressed both sympathy with the red card decision and their widespread condemnation of the officials. They were probably correct but I was too angry with myself to readily agree.
Thus our three games in five days had resulted in three narrow wins with no goals conceded. The players should be heartily congratulated on their continuing efforts and at times in the Fort Bragg match their play was nothing short of top class high school football. The post game team talk was therefore full of positives and humor and talk of my red card was reduced to what it should be — a secondary event in this ever-eventful and continuingly dramatic 2012 season.
I would like to add that having being passionately involved in this sport since I could walk, I realized a long time ago that the referees have a very difficult job and as a result I very rarely complain about the officiating. I insist that my players refrain from doing so also. In all those years of involvement I had never received a red card (nor been ‘sent off’ as it used to be called), through a long playing career that included four-years as a starter on my university team, a brief spell as a semi-professional in England, and then coaching at a similar level in the Bay Area, before now coaching high school here at AV. I know the boundaries within which conversations with the referee must remain. I felt I had not crossed those boundaries on this occasion and the ‘banter’ was no different than that between coaches and referees in many matches. This official’s reaction was both very harsh and too hasty.
However, the right thing to do was to shake their hands at the end of the match and I did so. An amicable conversation followed and I sincerely apologized for my remarks. The decision to eject me was within the guidelines of the laws of the game. I accept it and I will learn from it. We all have bad days out there on the field of play and on this occasion, in different ways, the referees and I certainly did. Fortunately the AV Panther team had a splendid afternoon and did themselves, the program, and the school proud. Well done, lads!
At the time of this writing, the team was preparing for a road league game that will see them travel to northeast Santa Rosa for a match at Rincon Valley Christian on Wednesday evening. The team will then return for a big game on Friday night (Oct. 12th), under the lights at the County Fairgrounds in Boonville against League champions Roseland Prep, starting at 7.30pm. This is the Homecoming match and will be preceded by two American football games, Varsity and Jr. Varsity. A large and boisterous crowd of locals is expected, and will certainly be appreciated, as the soccer Panthers get to play in front of many family and friends in what will surely be a great atmosphere. We hope to see you there. Come on you Panthers!
Current record (won/lost/drawn): League 4-1-3; Overall 9-1-3.
2012 Schedule
Tue 8/28 N Kelseyville Away 4.30 4-2 W
Thu 8/30 N Cloverdale Away 4.30 5-1 W
Sat 9/1 N Ukiah Away 7.00 3-1 W
Wed 9/5 Lg Geyserville Home 4.30 0-1 L
Fri 9/7 Lg Sonoma Academy Home 4.30 4-0 W
Wed 9/12 Lg Rincon Valley Home 4.30 2-1 W
Tue 9/18 Lg Roseland Prep Away 4.30 1-1 D
Fri 9/21 Lg St. Vincent’s Home 4.30 1-1 D
Mon 9/24 N Middletown Home 4.30 1-0 W
Fri 9/28 Lg Calistoga Away 5.30 2-2 D
Tue 10/2 Lg Sonoma Academy Away 4.30 1-0 W
Fri 10/5 Lg Point Arena Home 4.30 2-0 W
Sat 10/6 N Ft. Bragg Home 4.30 1-0 W
Wed 10/10 Lg Rincon Valley Away 3.00
Fri 10/12 Lg Roseland Prep Home 7.30
Wed 10/17 Lg Tech H.S. Away 4.30
Fri 10/19 Lg St. Vincents Away 3.00
Mon 10/22 Lg Mendocino Away 4.30
Wed 10/24 Lg Calistoga Home 4.30
Fri 10/26 Lg Upper Lake Home 4.30
(LG — League / N — Non-league)
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