Lyman Memorial boys soccer has been officially awarded a forfeit win over No. 13 seed Holy Cross in the CIAC Class S first-round tournament. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference confirmed the decision on Monday, reversing the result of Saturday’s game in Waterbury. The forfeiture stems from a rules violation where a suspended Holy Cross player was present on the bench during the match, despite being ineligible to compete. This technical ruling immediately advances Lyman Memorial to the second round without the need for additional play.
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The incident occurred because the Holy Cross player in question had received two yellow cards in a previous New England Varsity League tournament quarterfinal loss. According to Holy Cross athletic director Mike Giampetruzzi, the player was required to sit out the subsequent game against Lyman Memorial. However, Giampetruzzi admitted to a misunderstanding of the specific CIAC regulations. “I knew the suspension was intact for the next game. I didn’t realize he had to not be on the bench,” Giampetruzzi stated. He clarified that the player was not in uniform and did not participate in warmups, but his mere presence on the bench constituted a violation.
CIAC regulations, specifically Appendix E of the boys soccer information packet, explicitly state in bold that ejected coaches or players “cannot be in attendance at the game(s) for which he/she is serving their suspension.” Giampetruzzi acknowledged the error, stating, “It was my mistake as the administrator and unfortunately, we lost the game because of that mistake.” As a result, Lyman Memorial will now travel to Stonington on Tuesday to face the fourth-seeded Bears at 4:30 p.m., while the remainder of the Class S second-round games proceed as scheduled on Monday.
Source: Yahoo Sports
