A massive Division-II upset took place in men’s college soccer on Friday night. However, it was the referee who stole the show.
A bizarre scene took place late in the second half.
Colorado State-Pueblo had a corner kick with just under 10 minutes left in the game. It sailed across the box and Midwestern State cleared it out with a header.
A mad dash for the ball ensued and one of the ThunderWolves players was tripped up by incidental contact from a Mustang. The nearest official blew the play dead. He gave possession to CSU-Pueblo.
Maycol Reyes, who was called for a foul, went over to the referee and tried to argue his case. This is where things got weird.
The official — Tony Obas — got up in Reyes’ face. Obas puffed his chest and intentionally initiated contact. If that wasn’t strange enough, he proceeded to throw his arms up and stumbled backwards.
It was a total flop.
Fortunately, Obas’ unprofessional behavior did not impact the final score. The ThunderWolves were unable to capitalize off of the possession.
That doesn’t make his actions acceptable. Under no circumstance should an NCAA official take dive after initiating contact with a player. Obas, a veteran referee, should be done for the year. He should not be allowed to officiate the semifinals or finals. He should be suspended to begin next season.
Obas’ flop was hysterical but utterly unprofessional.
Colorado State-Pueblo, the 16th-ranked team in the country, was granted a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament and faced off against Midwestern State, a No. 1 seed and second-ranked team in the nation during the third round. The ThunderWolves ultimately proved to be the better team during their lone meeting of the year. They won 1-0 and advanced to the semifinals. The Mustangs’ season is over.