The Alaska School Activities Association and Anchorage School District on Monday declared Bartlett's boys soccer team a 1-0 forfeit winner over Service after Saturday's high school match was halted in the first half following red cards -- ejections -- issued to two Service coaches.
ASAA executive director Billy Strickland said the decision was based on National Federation of State High School Association soccer rules, which require ejected coaches to immediately leave the vicinity of the playing field.
"That's pretty consistent with all ejections of coaches, regardless of the sport," Strickland said.
Service head coach Dan Rufner and assistant coach Brian Waite protested a penalty kick awarded to Bartlett with the Cook Inlet Conference regular-season match at Bartlett, which carried pivotal postseason implications, scoreless late in the first half. The coaches loudly and repeatedly asked referee Derek Newman for an explanation. Newman soon red-carded both coaches and declared the match over. Rufner continued to protest.
Rufner on Monday declined comment on the forfeit.
At least one other Service player received a red card. Under ASAA rules, Strickland said, a red card carries an automatic one-game suspension.
Strickland said he and school district officials conferred Monday before deciding that awarding Bartlett a forfeit victory was the correct ruling.
Bartlett coach Matt Froehle called the incident "bizarre'' and "unfortunate.'' He said he learned of the decision to award Bartlett a forfeit win from a Bartlett administrator Monday.
Strickland said the incident was unusual in Alaska high school sports.
"We have thousands of contests each year,'' Strickland said. "This is by no means indicative of what usually happens in soccer. It's an unfortunate event, but it's not the epitome of what usually happens in our sports.''
Saturday's match was critical to the postseason hopes of both Bartlett and Service. The top three teams in the Cook Inlet's regular season qualify for the ASAA-sanctioned state tournament, and Bartlett entered Saturday holding down third place with a four-point advantage over fourth-place Service.
The decision to award Bartlett a forfeit win furnished the Golden Bears three points and pushed them to 7-3-2 in CIC games. Bartlett owns 23 points with two CIC matches remaining and Service owns 16 points with three CIC matches remaining.
That means any combination of Bartlett points won or Service points lost that equals three would guarantee the Golden Bears a playoff spot.
"I think we can get the job done because the guys know how to get the job done,'' Froehle said.
Reach reporter Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr