Officiating leads McHi coach to forfeit match

SAN BENITO - McAllen High girls soccer coach Pat Arney wants everybody to know he’s sorry for what he did during the finale of the Dog Pound Invitational at San Benito High School.

Frankly, with the apologies he’s already given to people associated with San Benito and Harlingen South, plus the game’s referees and his own players, Arney is at least somewhat closer to atoning for his actions.

Just minutes into the championship match against Harlingen South, Arney pulled his team off the field because of a dispute with the officiating. He said there wasn’t just one call in the aborted championship game (which Harlingen South won by forfeit) that angered him, but it built up throughout the weekend.

“I wasn’t agreeing with the calls and I said, ‘Well, if you can’t change, we’ll go home,’ and he said, ‘Fine, go home,’” Arney said, recounting what happened Saturday night with the official. “It was something kind of stupid on my part, and… just a misunderstanding.

“It wasn’t the brightest moment of my coaching career. It’s too bad, because Harlingen South has a great team, and we’ve been playing extremely well. It was just kind of a stupid thing to do. Unfortunately, it happened."

Brian Sandalow covers high school soccer for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.