Penalty kicks bring decisive resolution to conference matches
Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008
Using a three-number series to denote a team's record has been a practice peculiar to soccer, but this year the third number is no longer needed.
Thanks to a change in the Arkansas Activities Association's 2008 soccer handbook, the third number has been purged. A team's record in conference matches will reflect only wins and losses, rendering obsolete the third number that identifies ties.
When a conference match ends in a tie, two 10-minute, sudden-victory overtime periods will determine the winner. If the tie persists, kicks from the penalty spot, 12 yards in front of the goal line, will decide the victor.
The team leading after the fifth kick is deemed the winner. If no winner has emerged after five attempts, the penalty kicks continue on a one-on-one basis until one team scores one more goal than its opponent after each has had an equal number of attempts.
No tie-breaking mechanism existed for conference matches last year. If a winner had not been determined after 80 minutes of regulation play, the match ended in a tie.
Joey Walters, the associate executive director of the AAA, said the member schools adopted the change to create more conformity with other high school sports.
"I believe the rationale was to align soccer with other high school sports, football, basketball, baseball and softball, that resolve ties," he said.
Walters said 33 states have overtime procedures, with Arkansas employing the same method as Oklahoma and Missouri. The practice isn't new. It's the same one that's been used to break ties in state tournament matches.
"They're trying to get all the games to a conclusion," said Samir Haj, Fayetteville Lady Bulldog coach. "That's fine. It makes somebody have to win each game."
Chris Leshinski, the Rogers Lady Mounties coach, said the procedure eliminates the confusion that ties created, making it easier to allocate state tournament seeds. However, he's not in favor of using penalty kicks to break ties.
He prefers a method more equitable for the goal keeper. Current rules prevent keepers from coming off the goal line until the ball is struck, permitting only lateral movement.
"I don't agree with the type of kick," Leshinski said. "I would like to see more of a dribble-up type shot. That gives the keeper a 50-50 chance. The farther you get out the more equal it becomes between the keeper and the shooter. It's more exciting than just placing the ball."
Other 7 A-West coaches said they liked the two 10-minute overtime periods intervening between regulation play and penalty kicks.
"The players work so hard," said John Marshall, Springdale Har-Ber girls coach. "To have [penalty kicks ] come up at the end of the game for conference matches, it's going to be a total letdown or a total moral boost for the team."
Har-Ber boys coach Greg Taylor concurred. He said the two overtime periods enable sides to win matches during the regular run of play.
"I kind of like the resolution of having a winner and a loser," Taylor said. "I don't like to have pks right after the end of a game. I like the overtime periods. If it's still not decided then I kind of like the idea of having a set winner and a loser. If it happens to be a pk, then it just means it's a pk. That's also a tactical part of the game that you have to practice for and be ready for."
Area teams that participated in the Northwest Arkansas Showcase earlier this month were introduced to the penalty kick concept. The series of friendlies featuring some of the top sides in the state used penalty kicks to unlock ties. The Fayetteville boys and girls respectively outlasted Bartlesville Okla., 4-3 and 5-3 in penalty kicks.
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