A soccer ball lies on the pitch.
A rule was misapplied in the boys soccer Division 1 regional final between Macomb Dakota and Troy Athens last week, so the game will be resumed from the point of the mistake Tuesday.
The teams had completed regulation play and timed overtime tied at 2-2. But the Michigan High School Athletic Association says its soccer tournament overtime procedure was incorrectly applied when, during the penalty kicks that followed overtime, onsite officials voided a successful goal by an eligible Dakota player for shooting out of order for his team. MHSAA soccer tournament overtime policies do not require that players shoot in a particular order for their team.
“In soccer, the overtime tournament procedure does not call for players to be listed in order when the game goes to penalty kicks,” MHSAA spokesperson John Johnson told the Free Press this morning. “The error occurred when the onsite officials created such a list and then penalized Dakota for shooting out of order.’’
The correction can be made because it was an MHSAA administrative tournament policy that was misapplied, not a National Federation of State High Associations playing rule. Misapplication of NFHS playing rules cannot be changed after the fact, the MHSAA said.
The match will be resumed at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Athens, beginning with each team’s fourth kick and the shoot-out tied at 3-3, Johnson said. The winner will advance to face Rochester in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Troy.