The mother of a high school soccer player says she plans to file a complaint with police alleging that her daughter was punched in the face by an opposing player during a playoff game Wednesday.
Melonie Ross of Strong posted a short video clip on her Facebook page Thursday that shows a Lisbon High School player taking a swing at her daughter, Summer Ross, after Mt. Abram scored a go-ahead goal late in the playoff game at Lisbon.
As Summer Ross and a group of her Mt. Abram teammates jogged up the field while celebrating the eventual game-winning goal by Kayla Knight, a Lisbon player stood in their path. When the Mt. Abram players reached her, she threw a punch at Ross, the video shows.
“I just thought it was a really cheap move to say the least,” said Melonie Ross, whose clip had been viewed more than 73,000 times and received at least 300 comments before the Facebook post was deleted Friday evening.
Summer Ross fell down while trying to dodge the punch.
“(The punch) skimmed the side of her face,” Melonie Ross said, adding that her family has contacted the Lisbon Police Department.
“We’re filing, we have the paperwork to file a report against her because I think it was uncalled for and I think she should have a consequence for her action,” Melonie Ross said.
After the incident, the Lisbon player received a yellow card from game officials, signifying an infraction. A player that receives a second yellow card then receives a red card and is ejected from the game.
“I don’t know that the referees fully saw it,” Mt. Abram Athletic Director Brian Desilets said. “They offered a yellow card, and I didn’t get an explanation from the officials, or anything like that. I know that they’ve seen the video, and I guess they’re reviewing it, but there’s not a whole lot that can be done at this point, from their perspective.”
Melonie Ross was at the game, but did not see the incident. It was caught on video by Mt. Abram boys’ soccer coach Darren Allen, she said.
“(Summer) told me about it after the game,” Melonie Ross said. “We didn’t see it during the game. She told me what had happened after the game and I was shocked.”
“Until we got the video we didn’t really get the extent of it. So we were just shocked. We thought it was terrible sportsmanship.”
Lisbon Superintendent Richard Green has seen the video and called the incident “disheartening.”
“We were aware of it shortly thereafter,” Green said. “I had people who were at the game. Again, we’re well aware of the incident. In my opinion, it’s not an indication of what we are as a school or a community, and, you know, it’s disheartening, I guess, is the word I would use.”
He said the school district is “formally addressing” the situation.
“As far as specifics and stuff, I can’t share details, as you know, about personnel or students, but I can assure you that we’re well aware of it,” Green said. “What I can share with you is that I’ve contacted the (Mt. Abram) superintendent, and I’ve actually contacted the family of the girl from Mt. Abram, and I have apologized to them for the incident. But as far as being able to share what we’ve done internally, I’m not at liberty to do that.”
Green said that Lisbon High also has contacted the Maine Principals’ Association, the governing body of Maine high school sports.
Melonie Ross acknowledged that Green reached out to her.
“The superintendent of Lisbon contacted me this morning and said they were going to take care of it,” she said. “He apologized for the Lisbon school and he said he couldn’t tell me what actions would happen because that’s their school policy when they deal with a minor.”
“But he said they were going to deal with it. So that’s all they could really tell me about it.”
Desilets said that both schools are ready to put the incident behind them.
“I think it’s been put to bed,” he said. “I think everything that should have been done has been done. You know, it’s sports. It’s the ugly side of sports, it happens, and people move on.”
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