Sunset soccer final on hold, forfeits pending

Monday's Sunset Region soccer final between Shadow Ridge and Arbor View has been postponed as the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association investigates a possible eligibility violation by a Shadow Ridge player.

The teams were to have begun play at 4 p.m., but the match was postponed this afternoon.

The NIAA learned late Sunday night that a Shadow Ridge player may be ineligible. The player, a freshman, started the school year at Arbor View and allegedly practiced with and scrimmaged with the Aggies before learning she was not at the correct school for her zone.

The player participated in at least one match for Shadow Ridge. Under NIAA rules, an athlete cannot compete for two different schools in the same sport season.

"The athlete is in violation of the rule," said NIAA executive director Eddie Bonine. "Any matches in which that athlete participated, Shadow Ridge will have to forfeit.

"It appears to be a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of a regulation. It's unfortunate, but the rule is the rule."

It's unclear whether the athlete competed in either of Shadow Ridge's two Sunset Region tournament wins. The Mustangs defeated Durango, 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Bishop Gorman, 1-0 in double overtime in the semifinals.

"We do know she's been in some games," said Bonine. "There will be forfeits involved. It could be one or it could be five; we don't know how many yet."

Shadow Ridge could appeal the forfeits under a contribution to victory clause. Basically, the Mustangs would have to prove that the ineligible player did not contribute to the team's victory, which isn't an easy thing to do.

"I'm assuming they're going to appeal," Bonine said. "The problem here is we're under a time restraint."

The Southern Nevada state championship game is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m., but that, too, could be on hold.

If Shadow Ridge has to forfeit any playoff wins, it could mean the teams it beat — Durango and Gorman — would be back in the tournament, playing each other for the right to meet Arbor View.

Those teams would need time to prepare and play a match, then have to play Arbor View. It's possible the state final may not be played until next week.

The Aggies, meanwhile, don't know or seem to care who they'll play. They'd just like to play someone, anyone.

"The last I heard when I left school was that we were going to play and everything was a go," said Arbor View coach Jay Howard, who received a phone call informing him of the postponement approximately 90 minutes prior to the match. "We were told to be ready to play (Tuesday).

"They were really ready to play today. They're very disappointed, but we'll bounce back. We live on 'no excuses,' so we're not going to let that be an excuse."

The NIAA isn't excited about the idea of having to change the final standings, which could have affected which teams actually made the playoffs. Shadow Ridge finished second in the Northwest League with 30 points, followed by Arbor View (29), Palo Verde (26) and Cimarron-Memorial (22). Cimarron did not qualify for the playoffs, but any forfeits would change teams' point totals.

"I just don't think we could go back and play part of the regular season over with spring sports starting next week," said NIAA assistant director Donnie Nelson. "We'd be looking at another whole season, a spring soccer season."

The Sunrise Region final between Rancho and Coronado will go on as scheduled at 6 p.m. at Bettye Wilson Park.