The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Strongsville-Twinsburg fuss brings out worst
During my sophomore year at Harvey High School, one day I was sitting in an accounting class.
One desk over to my left was the Red Raiders’ best girls basketball player of that era and, arguably, in school history.
She was discussing with one of her friends an issue she was having. Never one as a teenager to lack a big mouth, I interjected into the conversation without having been invited, trying to be helpful.
Not in extreme malice, but purely to make the point, she turned to me and said, “Chris, shut up.”
The older you get, the less you recall about high school. But that exchange still sticks with me because of its broader lesson.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut up.
After observing controversy transpire from the Division I girls soccer state semifinal between Strongsville and Twinsburg on Nov. 6, this situation could have used a reality check like that day in accounting class.
If you’re not aware, here is the abridged version: With the Mustangs protecting a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute, a substitution was made. But as one player came off the pitch, two subs came on. No one noticed. So Strongsville played one up with 12 players until the 75th minute, when the error was discovered and rectified. Strongsville won, 1-0.
The 18-0-3 Mustangs were making their 12th state final four appearance. The 21-0 Tigers, in the midst of their best-ever season, were making their first state appearance in girls soccer. Given the trajectory these two sides have been on, it might have been Ohio’s most anticipated girls soccer state semifinal.
This deep in the postseason, a fourth official is assigned, in addition to two linespeople and a center official. Their primary job is to be a match manager from the touchline, including subs.
The whole thing — the situation itself, but even more so the reaction — was so ludicrous.
You’re not going to hear my insight on year-overyear valuation of the Russian Ruble, a history of the Berlin Philharmonic or topography of the Australian Outback. Because on those topics, I have no clue.
But after 16 years covering high school soccer, including 45 matches and more than 67,000 words written about the sport locally this fall, this one is near my wheelhouse.
Match officials don’t come off well in this mess. A 12on-11 match situation for several minutes late in a state semifinal is unacceptable. Second chances are fine, but a mistake this egregious calls into question fundamental trust. If officials can’t get the number of players right, what about fouls on attacking runs on the edge of the box or the most vital offside calls?
For fundamental trust, and acknowledging those officials likely are their own worst critics, at the very least those officials shouldn’t be assigned a match on this big of a stage again.
Twinsburg has a right to feel aggrieved. An injustice did occur, and a landmark season shouldn’t end like this.
Strongsville is in an impossible position, too, because a victory en route to a state final should feel hollow in a sense. How could it not? And even worse, the Mustangs are portrayed as villains for what seemingly was an accident.
And the Ohio High School Athletic Association should deliver better when an error is so blatant than, barring legal action, “The decision is final.”
There should be a remedy if such an enormous and rare mistake happens, in this instance at minimum an appeals process for the affected portion of a match to be replayed. No one wanted this. But with all that stated, come on. The level of rhetoric has been appalling.
There have been claims on social media Strongsville went out of its way to cheat from the outset. So in the 69th minute of a state semifinal, in front of a stadium full of people, and with a fourth official providing oversight, the Mustangs are going to risk their season and reputation by cheating in plain sight and purposely fielding a 12th player. Really?
After Strongsville lost the D-I state final to Beavercreek, the vitriol spewed, claiming it was karma and using the controversy like a punchline for a late-night monologue.
There has been extensive coverage from local TV stations and reaction from people who normally couldn’t be convinced to go anywhere near high school soccer. But suddenly, everyone is an expert.
To all of that nonsense, just stop already.
The student-athletes aren’t being served well. The communities don’t deserve this. Two great girls soccer sides will, sadly, have memorable seasons defined in part by this debacle.
The wrong isn’t going to be righted – and it’s not fair.
But it’s ironic how it’s the adults’ job to teach adversity management, and yet the athletes do a far better job of it than many adults.
One of the biggest regrets is this is what it seems to take for so-called niche sports to get the spotlight.
It was the same during the infamous 2014 sevenovertime state hockey final between St. Ignatius and Sylvania Northview that was declared a tie.
It was the same when one distance runner carried another across the finish line at the 2012 state track and field meet. Somehow, something that inspiring became national pundits using it as an example of the “weakening of America.”
It becomes part of a news cycle, a proud niche-sport community is dragged into controversy against its will, people who have no clue opine and then it’s on to the next trendy thing.
So sympathize for Twinsburg, Strongsville and all parties involved for a mess that should have been avoided.
But if all you can offer is hot air that leads nowhere, quoting arguably Harvey’s all-time best girls basketball player, “Shut up.”