Bad feel to Saddleback-Santa Ana game from start
February 4th, 2009, 7:50 pm · · posted by Damian Dottore, OCVarsity
SANTA ANA – I was standing right on the sideline, next to the Santa Ana bench when the fight broke out. I told another reporter who was there, I could tell that something like this was going to happen.
Santa Ana and Saddleback are two of the biggest rivals in Orange County, and can make whatever bad blood that Servite and Mater Dei have look like G-rated stuff. And believe me, I know all about it from the Friars’ side. I graduated from Servite in 1987.
From the start of the game, I could see an intensity that wasn’t there when the Saints and Roadrunners faced off against each other in January.
The tackles seemed harder. More elbows were thrown. More taunts given. Stands to reason. A lot was on the line. A loss for the Saints ended any chance they had at being a Golden West League champion. A victory for the Roadrunners assured them of at least a co-championship.
The referee let the kids play a bit in the first half, but it seemed like he had a good handle when things were starting to get out of control. He handed out two red cards for a shoving incident early in the second half. And after that, even the slightest of contact brought a yellow. I think the ref was doing the best he could to restore some order.
Rivals, however, will be rivals.
Three officials can’t keep track of everything. And from my vantage point, I could see that they were missing some stuff that was eventually going to lead to fight. Which it did. And both teams should bear the brunt of the blame. Both coaching staffs did an excellent job responding to the incident, and put an end to the fight as fast as they could. I could have been much worse had they not intervened so quickly.
(Click here to see an OCVarsity.com video of the incident and to hear about what happened from the two head coaches.)
And I must say that not all of the players are to blame. I saw at least one Santa Ana player, Jose Bahena, taking an active role in playing the peacemaker. And afterward, he was yelling at his teammates.
I have read some comments that the CIF should bar both teams. That hardly seems fair. Judging by what Santa Ana coach Joe Penaflor said afterward, the offending players on his team will be punished. At least one will be kicked off the team. That seems like punishment enough for me. Let the two programs issue penalties to their own players.
Why should a guy like Bahena have to suffer for the actions of a few ill-tempered kids. That doesn’t seem fair. And as for Saddleback, they sure looked like the best team in the county in the 68 minutes that were played. It wouldn’t be right to keep them from competing in the playoffs. Punish those who threw the punches and instigated the fight. Not all 22 kids on the field.
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So i was at the game and as a soccer alumni of saddleback i have to say this has to be embarrassing for both teams. The game was getting out of hand and both coaches had to see that they had to calm down their own players. The worse part was the fight that broke out in the stands. something has to be done about the neutral zone of the field. It is hard to keep order when both schools are sitting next to each other and with little security. As for punishing the teams it seems kind of harsh to take CIF away from them because not everyone took part in the brawl. The video should help out both squads determine which players should be punished and which shouldn’t. i would really like to see an update on this information. today was a sad day in high school soccer.
The most revealing thing about this recap Damian is not the summary of events but rather that you admitted that you are a Servite alumni.
Sadly, that explains all of the extended-hyped coverage of the Friars on this site to the exclusion of some other deserving teams. How about an article on Servite’s second consecutive loss and how the consecutive scoreless streak has now turned into a situation of bleeding goals.
I now firmly “credo” that the annual Servite swoon is about as predictable this time of year as getting my W-2 in the mail. Where oh where is SoccerHooligan and Credo? Perhaps hiding under some paperbags?
As for this brawl – sad situation and there should be repercusions for the initiators of the fight and those that left the bench to join in the melee.
I included my high school just for you Pundit
How did I know, you would focus on that
We keep the visiting schools on separate sides of our stadium. This is not new to soccer games in OC. I know the coaches will take care of the punishments and give the deserving players their consequences. Banning teams in CIF is not justified. Game suspensions should be enough. By the way, I coach at Alisal High School in Salinas,CA.
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems is the quality of the referees in High School soccer. While there are a few exceptions, a lot of the officials lack the inside knowledge of the game. I have seen cards issued for minor incidents, while violent fouls, elbows, and dangerous follow through tackles go unnoticed. I know they are trying to do a good job, but many of them are not qualified, neither they have the soccer background necessary to manage games.
dottorre i’ve scowled at all the negative comments made about your articles and blogs, although your excessive cover up stories for servite are ridiculous. This story just showed me something i didn’t think i’d hear coming from someone who is given room in a county wide paper to write his personal thoughts. “can make whatever bad blood that Servite and Mater Dei have look like G-rated stuff.” What a childish thing to say. Just because Mater Dei and Servite have the restraint and are able to act as civilized human beings instead of resorting to acting savagely and resorting to physical violence doesn’t mean anything…oh yea except that we know how to showcase our skill and shut up a rival without resorting to a brawl.
i don’t think the teams should be punished together, for the kids that stood off or tried to stop this neanderthal act it would be wrong to take away their hard work. I do think that those kids should not be allowed to participate in High School sports again. It disgusts me to play CIF soccer in orange county with these horrible acts occuring
Dottore is servite alumn…
CRAZY RIGHT?!
Haha
Damian is talking a lot like Miguel everyday.
I thought Melendez was gone, but looks like someone is follwing in his footsteps.
very dissapointed. and has anybody stopped to think how bad it makes us (latinos) look. Verry dissapointed
I think that great part of this tragedy was due to the refs lack of knowledge. The officials attending these kind of games should be of a better quality. Same happens during a Garden Grove vs. Los Amigos game. Something should be done at a county level!
If your kid is qualified – come play for a USSF Development Academy team. The ref crews are stellar with advanced badges. More often than not, it is a crew of National grade referees working an Academy match.
CIF doesn’t give a rats ass about the quality of their soccer officials nor has it done squat to improve it’s referee ranks over the years. Out of shape – unsophisticated – and yes inexperienced officials are part and parcel of the high school game. Oh and that two man system seems to be more the rule in high school soccer than the exception when it should be outlawed in it’s entirety.
My oh my, Pundit still being, well, a pundit. Glad you haven’t backed off my friend. It’s too bad about this brawl. Saddleback-Santa Ana is always fun to watch because of the rivalry, but you never want to see this. Hope all is well in the OC soccer scene. I have to admit, I miss covering boys soccer more than anything since my departure from the Register. Dottore is doing a great job. He was a colleague and remains a good friend. He’ll do great as the boys soccer writer.
i think high school referees should be or have better knolegde of the game, most of them are old n not even capable or being close to the play…….in other words just better refs.
Miguel, Damian is like you, he praises credo…
EVEN THOUGH THEY LOST TO A VERY VERY POOR TEAM YESTERDAY, ORANGE LUTHEREN.
Servite has a very good chance of not making it to the playoffs, very very good chance.
Hahaha
Then maybe Dottore and Miguel can cry together knwoing that the Friars have blown it AGAIN!
Poor poor guys.
Two points to make; first, CIF goes out of its way to keep its refereeing program separate from other organizations that utilize or train referees, such as AYSO and the O.C. Soccer Referee’s Association (OCSRA referees work my team’s games in the Laguna Niguel F.A.). This provincial attitude is inexcusible, given the need to continually find and train better referees.
Second point is the result of the increase in speed of play seen in the past 25 – 30 years. I watch a good amount of European footie, especially England’s Premier League. The referees are not able to keep up with the flow of play, the linesmen defer too much to the center ref, and FIFA’s indefensible stance on technology all ensure that the situation will continue to worsen. This same situation occurs at all organized levels of footie, including CIF. Also consider that CIF allows a 2-man system, which can not reasonably cover enough of the field at the high school varsity level.
Until CIF steps up and requires 3-man referee teams and does a much better job of training referees, fights such as this one are unavoidable. The rule that never changes is this; if the referee does not dispense justice on the field, the players will. Anyone who says otherwise has never played competitive soccer.
Brawl? I don’t see a brawl. I see alot of pushing and shoving and 2 kids who should get punished but the rest of the kids I see trying to seperate their teammates and keep them under control. I think brawl is exagerated. About the comments that they should be kept out of CIF I think is ridiculous, because 2 players decided to act foolishly the entire team should not be penalized. I think the pushing and shoving happens more often and we don’t hear about it. The refs need to improve, I didn’t see any of them in the picture trying to control the cao, you need better refs for a Varsity game, they can’t keep up with the speed of the game. Great job by the coaches acting quickly.
cmon buddy:
Contrary to popular belief, I did not root for “Credo.” Believe me, ask Mike Lussier. I will say this much: In the playoffs and against non-county teams I did root for my boys, whether it was Saddleback, Santa Ana Valley, Servite, Santa Margarita, Katella, Century or El Toro. Glad to see Mike Pronier got his 500th career win. He’s a great man. I think he and Angels manager Mike Scioscia were separated at birth. A shout out to all my soccer peeps. I’ll be covering St. Francis vs. Loyola today over on my neck of the woods. See yall in the playoffs!
Jserra number 1 !!!!!!
as a cif soccer official in orange county, i understand the resentment t oward referees. there are alot of older refs that can’t run anymore who still get var. games that shouldn’t be. but, (cif rule) anyone who leaves the bench area is subject to ejection ex…. players seperating other teamates, coaches, parents, school officials. and to the gentleman talking about the incident @los amigos, i was the ref. there are too many players that act like they were fouled but really aren’t. and their ego’s can’t handle it, then they act in an unsportsmanlike way and complain when there are repercussions. and then the coaches feed their ego. coaches and players need to be more responsible. trust me when i say giving a red card is a last resort, but we must when it is warranted.
Santa Ana and Saddleback rivalry…what could i say but that when these two schools meet the “its just a game” phrase gets thrown out the window. I was a Santa Ana alum and played in the soccer team, and it didn’t matter if it was a league game or a tourney game against saddleback, the games were intense, physical, and tough. I personally don’t think this was a brawl but a few players shoving. I was there and it looks worse on video than it really was. It was sad too see things end the way they did and above all embarrassing for both schools,but these rivalry games are usually exciting and hardly end in problems like this, hopefully people will move on and will not judge either one of these schools for a small shoving match.