Palo Alto has forfeited its Central Coast Section first-round girls soccer victory from Wednesday against San Benito for using an ineligible player against the Balers, said Central Coast assistant commissioner Steve Filios late Thursday afternoon.
The forfeit has ended the season for Palo Alto, the No. 6 seed in the tourney.
As with Tegan McGrady of Santa Teresa who suffered a similar fate two days earlier. Filios declined to name the player, but research by Prep2Prep concluded that the player who participated in the U17 National Team Camp was freshman Jacey Pederson, who has contributed two goals and four assists in 11 matches for Palo Alto.
She competed in a game in Carson in season for the United States national soccer program. The matches at the camp that began Jan. 26 were not approved by CIF because the national soccer federation submitted paperwork just three days before the event instead of the required 30, according to CCS commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser.
"She played an outside game at a U.S. national camp," said Filios, who noted it was a violation of Rule 600 about playing outside games which aren't exempted. "San Benito has been advised it will play Los Gatos on Saturday."
The Balers will meet the Wildcats at noon at Milpitas High.
Lazenby Blaser had warned there might be another suspension/forfeit or two after the McGrady situation because of one or more other section girls playing in the games at the camp. Filios said Palo Alto learned of the mistake today.
Unfortunately for Pederson - and McGrady - she could have sat out a regular season game if she had known the camp game was not approved, but the player apparently had no such knowledge.
Said Filios of the sad state of affairs: "Nobody wins on any of this."
No. 1 seed Santa Teresa (10-6-2 after its forfeits) caught a break of sorts because its first CCS tourney game is not until Saturday, Feb. 23 when it plays a quarterfinal game -- albeit without its top player and with the forfeiture of four games on its record, a penalty for the four regular-season game McGrady played in when she was ineligible.
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John Murphy can be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com
