OHSAA girls soccer investigation: Strongsville-Walsh Jesuit game ends in controversy

The OHSAA is planning to launch an investigation after a girls soccer regional final match between Strongsville and Walsh Jesuit ended in controversy last Saturday.

The game was played at Nordonia High School in Macedonia.

"We are going to investigate that situation and incident," said Tim Stried, OHSAA director of media relations. "When we do that its going to take time because we do have to collect reports from both schools involved and the officials."

The issue that started it all was caught on camera by Ohio Sports Net. A penalty kick with less than a minute to play led to furious coaches approaching game officials on the soccer field.

Several parents stormed the field to protest the game-ending call. Members of the Macedonia Police Department rushed over to diffuse the incident.

In 2019, 3News spoke to Scott Sandvick, who has been an Ohio sports official for more than 25 years. He recalled multiple times that he's had to make tough calls.

"I've been escorted out with police. I've had fans taken out with handcuffs by police," Sandvick said. While he understands that criticism comes with the job, that criticism is getting out of control.

"At the end of the day when someone loses, they want to say it's our fault. Virtually every game we do," he added.

After Strongsville won Saturday's game, two Walsh coaches were given a red card after the match was called. They now face automatic suspensions for the first two games of next year.

Carmen Blackwell reports: https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/h... --

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