The final day of (scholastic) lacrosse for the year. Then begins the summer season.
Yesterday’s Results
High School Boys – Birmingham Seaholm
Division 1 Finals – 2 p.m.
Brother Rice v. Forest Hills Eastern-Northern
Division 2 Finals – 4:30 p.m.
Forest Hills Central v. Cranbrook
High School Girls – Rockford
Division 2 Finals – 2 p.m.
East Grand Rapids v. Livonia Ladywood
Division 1 Finals – 4:30 p.m.
Rockford v. Bloomfield United
Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments.
D2 game had horrible officiating for a State Championship game… Not a fan of either team, but FHC had two goals taken away, the first was not explained at all on MHSAA TV, but according to folks on the field, the ref told the FHC bench that you cannot deceive in Lacrosse…??? The whole game is based on deception…and the second, was a joke… The official called a penalty for a push into the back of the player who was driving the net, he was in mid-air when he scored, not in the crease, and they waved off the goal… that was a big swing as it would have pulled FHC to within 1 goal, and instead, Cranbrook came down and scored and made it a 3 goal advantage… lastly, I know it was a tough call, but again, the official looked like he was right there, but in looking at the replay, the ball on the Crane’s Game winning goal did not appear to cross the line…It was very inconclusive, and if the official was not sure, you wave it off and go to OT and let it be decided there….I understand officials make mistake, and I also get that the MHSAA guys on TV don’t want referees getting heat… But the kids on the field have a lot of blood and sweat invested to have a game called like that… Forrest Hills did not play a great game, and put themselves in a tough spot to win, Cranbrook did what they needed to do to win, I think the Officials owe it to the kids and the game to call a good game… That was awful…
1. You can’t call timeout, then move the ball from where the refs place it (top right) before the restart whistle, and signal to everyone (including the refs) that ball is top right (meanwhile it was moved to back right). Hidden ball tricks don’t work that way. No goal was the correct call.
2. The push call (flag down) was questionable to begin with, however, the FHC player took a few more steps and then dove (over the very top of the crease) to get the shot off. As we all know, you’re not allowed to dive in high school nor college. Again, no goal was the correct call.
3. After watching the replay several times, you can see the game-winning goal well-over the goal line for just a second before it spins backwards to halfway on the line before the goalie finally picks it up. A tough split second call for the naked eye, but the video shows it to be the right one.
The officiating wasn’t perfect on some pushing calls in the midfield area throughout the game, but overall it was state championship caliber.
That crew was the top ref in the state (an NCAA and MLL ref), a MichLOA board member and NCAA ref and the top West Side guy that does CoC ref. The game was very well officiated and fair. Tough calls to take, but the right calls to make. I don’t give much thought to what the TV guys said. They were not lacrosse guys and clueless.
As CKLaxAlum stated, they were right on all 3 calls.
1) FHC was lucky they were not hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call. That’s a bush league play.
2) On the 2nd goal, usually the flag is thrown to signify a push and not a dive because it’s simultaneous and that’s how the offensive player got in the crease. In this case there was a flag down and THEN a dive. The guy on the call is an MLL/NCAA ref, he got it right.
3) Clear goal. Lead and single are in position right on top of the crease.
Wow… OK… Guys, I was watching on MHSAA and did not see exactly what happened on the first goal…and they did not explain it… On the 2nd goal, it sure looked good to me and the Game winner did not look good, ( I watched over a couple times)… That’s why we live in America… to each their own…I better go get my glasses checked and look again…
You’re right that it was tough to see it online. The camera men on the games were constantly missing the action, following the subs instead of the ball or staying wide when they should zoom in. I would bet that was the first lacrosse game they had ever SEEN let alone worked. They were just so bad.
As far as the announcers. As he kept calling easy stuff like “checks” as “sticked away” or a cross check a “high stick” it was pretty clear he didn’t have a clue either.
Not calling you out, just saying that MHSAA TV crew didn’t give you anything to work with.
I just watched the very end of the game a few more times. The game winning goal was clearly good and not as close as it initially appeared.
To add to my description from yesterday:
It was well-over the goal line because it hit the bottom netting (you can clearly see the netting in that spot move) before it bounces down and lands halfway on the line before the goalie finally picks it up.