By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT–Not much has come of the incident during the boys soccer game between Staples and host Trumbull on Saturday, Sept. 20 — at least not that officials will divulge.

The game was halted abruptly when referees walked away from the field with Staples holding a 2-0 lead due to a bench-clearing incident with 14 minutes remaining.

According to a Sept. 20 Westport Journal account: “An Eagle player went down. He kicked the ball at a Staples player. Two Wreckers came over; one shoved the Trumbull opponent. A few more shoves were traded. Players on the field, and from the bench — some, but not all — rushed over. Cooler heads tried to remove teammates from the action.

“Thirty seconds later, it was over. But instead of assessing the situation, issuing yellow and/or red cards, the referees walked away.”

This was deemed to be an “abandoned match” and the victory went to Staples since it had the lead and at least 40 minutes of the game was played.

It is safe to say the teams involved did not have their best showing — soccer aside — on this day. But FCIAC Commissioner Dave Schulz made it clear things may not have been handled well by game officials. “I do believe that the officials made a mistake by not giving out cards for the initial issue before they left the field. That may have prevented what transpired with the players on the bench,” Schulz said.

“We need to have the schools and officials sort it out. The game is an official 2-0 win for Staples as it was in the second half when stopped,” Schulz added.

Trumbull’s coach could not be reached for comment. Staples Athletic Director VJ Sarullo offered this statement:

“The Staples High School Athletic Department has excellent and longstanding relationships with Trumbull High School, the FCIAC, and the CIAC, and we value our partnerships with each. As an education-based athletic program, Staples High School Athletics holds our student-athletes, coaches, and programs to the highest standards of sportsmanship, conduct, and respect.  We remain committed to those standards and to representing Staples High School, the Block S and our community with both respect and pride.”

Sportsmanship was not at an all-time high on this day. Staples got the win Saturday, its fourth straight shutout victory to begin the season, albeit a shortened one. Yesterday, the Wreckers posted its fifth straight shutout, a 1-0 game against Danbury.

The Wreckers are back home to face Fairfield Warde tomorrow at 4 pm.

Andy Hutchison

^{_{Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories, since the 1990s. He is the sports editor at the Newtown Bee. He writes for the Monroe Sun. He was director of communications and radio color commentator for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers hockey team. He has won numerous writing awards, including regional and national first-place honors.}}