GORHAM – High school sports often showcases questionable officiating, but rarely does it cost a team a game. Unfortunately, on Oct. 12, the roulette of blown calls accomplished just that. On a night that should have seen the stands at Gorham High School erupt in abject jubilation at an amazing late-game comeback win, the moment was stolen away by the short blast of a whistle, forcing the Rams to settle for a 2-2 tie.

Down 2-0 to the South Portland Red Riots, the Rams tenaciously battled back in the final 12 minutes of the duel, scoring a pair of quick goals that set the Riots back on their heels – vulnerable to the decisive killing blow that seemed sure to fall next.

When the moment came with just 65 seconds left, it was nothing short of incredible. Gorham junior midfielder Kevin Lubelczyk chased down a loose ball on the precipice of the South Portland (9-2-1) back line. With a defender right behind him, Lubelczyk performed an amazing, circus-style kick over his own body, then blasted a pass down the line. Waiting on the receiving end, huddled close to the right post, was junior forward Drew Hopkins. Hopkins cleanly fielded the pass, turned, and booted in the winning shot.

Or, at least, that’s how it should have gone down.

Instead, the goal was nullified. The call? Interference; an astounding blunder, considering that Riots goalie Shawn Shannon was a good three feet away from Hopkins when he put in the shot. Even more questionable was that the explanation to the South Portland bench blamed the callback on a different cause entirely – stating instead that Lubelczyk’s kick had gone out of bounds. Regardless of which call killed the play, both were utter fiction, and in the aftermath during the two overtimes that followed, the Rams (8-3-1) were unable to regain the momentum that could have – and should have – propelled them to victory. Gorham would have to settle for the tie.

“We kind of got unlucky,” Hopkins said. “He called interference. (The goalie) was coming up on my back, but I didn’t touch him at all. I just got the ball, turned, and put it in. Kevin made a great play to set me up. That’s an amazing foot he has there.”

Things didn’t go well for Gorham throughout the first half. Despite playing the Riots hard, the Rams couldn’t capitalize on any of the four penalty corners that the team earned during the initial 40 minutes. Fate turned decisively against Gorham with just 9:49 left, when South Portland sophomore defender Andy Mills broke down the left sideline, passed to sophomore striker Dillon Leary, who quickly kicked to junior striker Dan Grazewski. Grazewski’s shot was met by Rams keeper Carter Bowers, who fell forward on the ball, but allowed to rebound to bounce back to Grazewski. The Riots striker did not miss on his second chance, and South Portland took a 1-0 lead into the half.

“I think part of it was that we just weren’t playing with the kind of intensity that we need to play with,” said Gorham Head Coach Tim King. “For several games that has been lacking. And if you don’t play hard you’re not going to beat good teams, and South Portland is a good team. They won the 50-50 balls, they controlled the midfield, and they gave us a lot of problems.”

When the Rams retook the field, they appeared to have adopted a different attitude. Gorham largely dominated possession during the second frame, but still couldn’t prevent a defensive breakdown at 32:15 when sophomore midfielder Nemanja Kaurin slashed past two backs and took a clean shot at the Ram goal to make it 2-0. Amazingly, Gorham did not falter even after this seemingly brutal blow – the Rams picked themselves up and continued to control the pace of the game.

“At halftime we kind of got reamed out by our coach because we were just playing awful,” Hopkins said. “And then we just pushed people up and showed who we really were as a team.”

With time running out, Gorham became increasingly desperate, and in their ferocious desire to cut the lead, the Rams seemed to startle the Riots with their increased tempo. With 10:20 remaining, senior back Seth Wing hit a direct kick from the 30-yard line that hit off the arms of Shannon and right into the clutches of Hopkins, who smashed it into the net to make it 2-1. Elated by their sudden success, the Rams surged on the attack.

With the clock reading 3:34 left, junior midfielder Jesse Orach kicked a pass from right to left across the Red Riots’ net towards senior back Levi Lurvey. Lurvey slid like a base runner and booted the ball past Shannon, tying the game at 2.

All that remained was for the Rams to finish the comeback. But even as Gorham lifted the cup of victory to their mouths, it was snatched away by bad officiating. Neither team was able to make much of a dent in the two overtimes that followed.

“I don’t really agree with the call, but there’s nothing you can do about it in that situation,” Hopkins said. “It would be bad to argue, because then the coach gets mad, and I’d probably get sent off at the end of the game.”

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