The last thing that high school sports fans ever want to see is a game decided by the calls of game officials.

That’s exactly what happened last Thursday, Sept. 25, as a controversial disallowed goal hurt Mount Si in a 2-0 loss to Mercer Island.

“To be honest, we played well individually, but I think as a unit we were off,” said a disappointed Wildcat coach Darren Brown. “We just couldn’t string anything together.”

That aside, a controversial call cost Mount Si the first goal in the contest. The play in question happened in the 21st minute. The Wildcats were deep in the Mercer Island end and fired a shot at Islander goalie Tyler Ledbetter. The ball deflected off of Ledbetter and was rebounded by a Mount Si offensive player, who promptly fired it back into the net.

The goal, however, was disallowed by the center referee, much to the disgust of Wildcat fans in the stands. Brown and his assistant coaches went out and argued the call at halftime.

“[The center] official said that the hands were on the ball and he could clearly see from his angle,” Brown said. “My argument was, ‘Well, he was 40 yards back, how could he see it?’ We saw it from our angle. AR’s (assistant referees/linesmen) didn’t call anything, and so our argument was very valid.”

National high school rules do not clearly identify a standard for determining whether a goalkeeper actually made a save or not, which is what appears to have been the issue here. No protest will be filed, but Brown said he would file a complaint with the officials’ association over this incident.

Another controversial call, a foul against Wildcat Jordyn Wilson, allowed Mercer Island a free kick in the 35th minute, and that kick, by Erin Bourgignon, resulted in a goal for the Islander defender. The Islanders added insurance in the 56th minute as midfielder Kara Lungmuns took a deflected corner kick and rammed it home past Mount Si goalie Marika Loudenback.

The Wildcats mustered only two shots on goal in the entire second half, both late attempts by college-bound senior Nikki Stanton, but the Islander defense shut down Mount Si’s offense the rest of the half and closed things out.

Among strong performances in the first half was that of junior midfielder Lauren Snead. Snead credits her brother, senior football player Sean, with helping her make a smooth transition to high school athletics.

“Sean helped me transition into high school to get the feel of everything, and he’s motivated me to get in the weight room and work out,” Snead said. “That’s definitely helped me this year on the field.”

Another player fans should keep an eye on is freshman Laura Barnes. Like Snead, Barnes has an older brother who also played Wildcat varsity sports. Dan Barnes graduated a few years ago from Mount Si. Laura is pleased with how things have gone.

“It’s pretty hard to be the only freshman on the team, but it’s gone pretty good. We have a good team,” she said.

Mount Si hosts Juanita Saturday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.