Lyman Memorial boys soccer is moving on in the CIAC Class S tournament, but not because they won on the field, at least not in the traditional sense. Holy Cross forfeited their first-round game after a suspended player was found hanging out on the bench during Saturday’s contest in Waterbury.
The Rule and the Mistake
Talk about a gut punch. The CIAC confirmed on Monday that No. 13-seeded Holy Cross had to give up their first-round game to No. 20 seed Lyman Memorial. Why? A player, who was tossed from an NVL tournament quarterfinal loss with two yellow cards, was supposed to sit out the next game. That’s standard. But the CIAC’s rule, buried in Appendix E of this season’s boys soccer info packet, is crystal clear and in bold: “The ejected coach or player cannot be in attendance at the game(s) for which he/she is serving their suspension.”
Holy Cross athletic director Mike Giampetruzzi took the fall for it, saying he got the news Monday morning. He knew the kid was suspended, sure, but admitted he “didn’t realize he had to not be on the bench.” He stressed the player wasn’t in uniform or part of warmups, just sitting there. “It was my mistake as the administrator and unfortunately, we lost the game because of that mistake,” Giampetruzzi said. Ouch. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a whole team.
The On-Field Drama That Didn’t Count
And get this, it gets even crazier. Before all the forfeit drama, these two teams actually went to penalty kicks on Saturday! They were tied after five kicks each in the first set. Then, in the second set, Holy Cross missed their first kick and Lyman Memorial put theirs away. That’s when the officials stepped in and, get this, mistakenly declared Lyman the winners. Yeah, officials.
Turns out, the format calls for up to five kicks per team in each set, but these refs went with a sudden-death format. Both sides were scratching their heads, questioning the whole thing. Giampetruzzi even mentioned “it wasn’t a great exchange between my coach and the assistant ref” and that all the officials just packed up and left. Can you imagine?
Lyman Memorial athletic director Brandon Strout wasn’t shy about it, telling The Day on Sunday they were “definitely not happy” about having to go back and finish the penalty kicks properly. Their coaches even asked the officials, “We have to continue, correct?” and got told, “No, it was over.” Strout said nobody protested, they shook hands, and then the kids found out on the way home, just 20 minutes later, that their win might not count. “An emotional rollercoaster, some kid was just a hero and feeling great. We were the underdogs. To have that emotional, good feeling taken away is pretty tough for the kids. I feel bad for the kids,” he said. Talk about a brutal swing of emotions.
The CIAC stepped in, saying this wasn’t about an in-game call, but a “failure to follow the prescribed tournament procedure.” So, the plan was to resume the shootout on Monday at a neutral site. But then, BOOM. The forfeit hit. Which, honestly, made that whole chaotic resumption unnecessary. What a wild ride for both squads.
So, Lyman Memorial gets the win, not with a heroic kick, but thanks to a rulebook blunder. They’re off to face the fourth-seeded Bears in Stonington tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4:30 p.m. You gotta wonder how that team, after all this craziness, will show up for their next match. It’s gotta be an emotional experience for sure.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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