Beckman suffers 1st loss in quarters of state soccer tournament

DES MOINES - He just kept shaking his head, seemingly chomping on his gum faster and faster.

"Wow," Dyersville Beckman Coach Mirek Laskowski repeated, as his disheartened team changed out of its gear.

This wasn't nearly what the top-ranked and second-seeded Blazers expected Thursday afternoon at the state soccer tournament. A 1-0 Class 1A quarterfinal loss to Nevada was their only one this season.

How they suffered it had their coach head-shaking, gum-chewing mad.

"All season, I've been dealing with this type of problem. Referees taking games away," Laskowski said.

Defender Miles Link was called for a foul on a first-half tackle in the box, leading to Ty Borton's penalty kick goal for Nevada (12-7). It was the first time all season Beckman (19-1) had trailed.

The Blazers could never get even.

"Seeing their record coming in, that makes you think they're a good team," Borton said. "You can't be undefeated without being a good team. It was a great win. I can't say enough about it."

And Laskowski couldn't say enough about the officiating. Beckman had a second-half goal disallowed because of an offsides call.

"That was not enough (contact) to just give away a penalty kick for nothing. It was a perfectly clean tackle. Then an offsides call for no reason," the coach said. "They should know. It's a very simple definition on offside. It's the time where the ball was played, not where it was touched.

"They should realize they were taking a big opportunity away from us. I'm really unhappy with this kind of stuff. State tournament ... you should have people train and qualify to do these kinds of games. I'm telling you this because I've got almost 30 years experience as a referee, and I know the game very well."

The only bright spot for Beckman on a dreary, rainy day at Cownie Park was the realization that virtually the entire team returns next season. Link is the lone senior.

"I'm really happy about the whole season," Laskowski said. "Our second appearance at state is pretty good for us. I thought we could do a lot more, but you have to be happy. We're going to take home a lot of experience, good experience for the boys. This is a young team, losing only one senior, so we'll be back next year.

"Hopefully the officials can improve a lot in calling games."