Players will be sanctioned Tuesday for girls soccer brawl
5:30 PM Mon, Nov 16, 2009 | Permalink
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By MIKE SZOSTAK PROVIDENCE - Girls from the Woonsocket and Tolman High School soccer teams will receive sanctions Tuesday for their role in the fight that marred the end of the MetLife Soccer Classic Girls Division IV Championship on Nov. 8 at Rhode Island College. Players involved in the scuffle will most likely be suspended for games this winter or next spring, if they are seniors and play another sport, or next soccer season, if they are underclassmen. The Rhode Island Interscholastic League's Principals Committee on Athletics met Monday and considered a report on the incident submitted by Tom Mezzanotte, RIIL executive director. The committee determined the sanctions. Mezzanotte would not disclose details of the punishment. He said the Interscholastic League will deliver the news to Woonsocket and Tolman officials Tuesday morning and invite them to comment. The Interscholastic League will issue a statement after the schools have had a chance to review the committee's decision. Mezzanotte said the RIIL will not reveal the names of the offenders or the nature of the penalties. He did say Monday that the Principals Committee on Athletics considers the fight a serious matter and made the sanctions severe enough to send a message to high-school athletes that league officials will not tolerate fighting. The fight broke out with about a minute to play in Woonsocket's 5-0 victory for the Division IV championship. Two players collided, started pushing each other and then threw punches and pulled hair. Players on the field ran over and players and coaches on the bench rushed on to the field. Officials and coaches quickly restored order. Only four seconds remained on the clock at that point, so the referee ended the game. Mezzanotte, who was at the contest, cancelled the awards ceremony when fans of the two schools began pushing and shoving in the grandstand and appeared close to punching rather than pushing. An earlier incident foreshadowed the altercation. A Tolman player running along the sideline with 16:40 left in the game responded to the Woonsocket cheering section by making a gesture with her fingers. 
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