No calls ruin Senior Night for New Kent girls’ soccer

New Kent's Kiersten Fuller(10) takes what looks to be a shot to the head in the first half from Warhill's Leanna Short (17) in a controversial first half play.

Robb Johnson photo

The frustration of a rough season for New Kent’s Lady Trojans soccer team was evident during the May 14 Senior Night affair against the visiting Warhill Lady Lions. And New Kent head coach Steve Grech let the referees know about it.

After two calls that the coach would identify as crucial, momentum swung in favor of the visitors as Warhill thumped New Kent 7-2 in the regular season home finale that dropped the Lady Trojans record to 3-10.

Warhill gained the early advantage in the contest as Caroline Metivier scored within the first five minutes. Less than two minutes later, teammate Ashleigh Boquist found the back of the net to up the visitors’ advantage to two.

New Kent settled down in the game, as goalkeeper Caroline Jones began to have more success stopping Warhill’s attacks. In response, Lady Trojan Emma Grant converted a long-arching goal to get the hosts on the board and cut the lead in half (2-1).

But the physicality of the game set in that sent Grech on a tirade with the referees. An elbow shot to the face of Kiersten Fuller prompted no foul. At the end of the half, a tripping call against Taylor Clements yielded no whistle as time expired at halftime.

The no-calls seemed to extinguish the moral of the Lady Trojans heading into the second half. Five additional goals by Warhill proved to be more than enough to finish off the hosts in the contest.

After the game, Grech didn’t hold back about the no-calls made in the contest.

“The foul that should have been a foul and a red card was called shoulder-to-shoulder by the referee, and to me, that was not shoulder to shoulder,” an infuriated Grech said. “If that was shoulder-to-shoulder, she [Fuller] would not be flying across the air. The officiating has been terrible not only for us, but for the girls as well.”

As far as the game itself, the coach commented that the energy subsided after the third goal, but he is planning to make sure his team performs well in the playoffs.

“We have to get prepared for our game next we hopefully,” he concluded.