By Ed Piper
On Valentine's Day, there was no love.
No love for the referees, who failed to set a line on complaints and behavior. No love between the two combatting teams, host La Jolla and Hoover.
As yet another player got knocked flying, a coach said: "See, look, ref..." Yet it was in Spanish, because that was the senior referee's dominant language.
A player complained again, whining over a call.
It was a situation, with no boundaries set or maintained by the sole people able to do so, the officials, that brought out the worst in fans, players, and coaches. The flip side of good sportsmanship and honest competition.
In essentially a meaningless game, since the Vikings' boys soccer team, though low in the Power Rankings, was already among teams qualifying for the playoffs, the two opponents were playing like there was no tomorrow.
Maybe that was the positive point: that the players took the game so seriously and played so hard.
Striker Luis Goehler of La Jolla scored the initial goal 10 minutes into the game. That 1-0 lead for the home team held up through the rest of the first half.
The Vikings then outscored the visiting Cardinals 2-1 in the second half to take away the win.
The CIF seeding meeting comes Saturday morning, Feb. 17. Playoffs start next week.
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