Fallon midfielder Corbin Waite, right, earned his second straight Division I-A first team all-state honor this week.
It was supposed to be a week of preparing for the Northern Division I-A regional tournament on Friday in Truckee.
Instead, the Fallon boys soccer team had to replay a match against Spring Creek on Tuesday at Lowry High School.
Spring Creek won its appeal to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association — 15 days after its submission — on Monday, successfully arguing an officiating blunder in its Oct. 18 match against Fallon in Spring Creek.
The Greenwave ended the season in fourth place and in the playoffs. Spring Creek was sixth, but a win would vault the Spartans over the Wave and into the postseason after the ruling.
Fair to say, Fallon coach Nate Waite was not happy with the ruling.
Nevertheless, the Wave pulled out a 1-1 tie to advance to Friday’s first-round playoff game against Truckee at the Riverview Sports Park. The Wolverines are the No. 1 seed, Sparks earned the No. 2 seed and will face third-seeded South Tahoe. Both games kick off at 1 p.m.
“I’m happy that we’re through,” Fallon coach Nate Waite said. “I never felt they (the team) were on their heels or doubtful. To me, it made them more determined and a little more focused about understading the seriousness of this week.”
Fallon scored in the first half when Austin Bischoff sent a corner kick into the goalbox and found the head of Tristan Parrott. Parrott’s header put the Wave up 1-0 and Fallon dominated possession, Waite said.
He estimated the Wave outshot Spring Creek 14-1 in the first half and held tight until the 78th minute when the Spartans broke through. It was too little, too late
“We were pretty much in control for most of the match,” Waite said. “They kept their heads and played smart. The match ended up being a good practice for us.”
Spring Creek protested the officiating in the Oct. 18 game after a Spartans player was ejected at halftime with Spring Creek leading 4-2. Fallon ripped off three unanswered goals in the second half to win the match 5-4.
The ruling said Spring Creek was given an unfair advantage when the club was forced to play a man down in the second half after the halftime ejection.
“I can’t tell you my opinion on the record or I will be suspended for the playoffs,” Waite said of the ruling. “We are a little behind schedule for the playoffs.”
The Wave then lost to Sparks and beat Dayton and Fernley to end the Northern Division I-A slate with a league record of 9-6-1 and 28 points. Spring Creek finished with losses to Sparks and Truckee and dropped to 7-7-2, 23.
A win is worth three points, a tie one and a loss zero.
If Spring Creek would have won, it would have given the Spartans 26 points (8-6-2) and Fallon 25 (8-7-1), leaving the Wave outside the playoffs.