California Lutheran’s performance against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, September 22nd, had members of its entourage seeing red, literally. Frustrated with his team’s inability to penetrate Pomona-Pitzer’s stifling, tenacious defense, a Cal Lu coach went on the offensive himself, consistently expressing his disagreement with the referee’s decisions.

With shades of Martin Luther’s sixteenth-century protests of the sale of indulgences, the individual in question used a variety of theoretical and theological arguments ("For God’s sake give us a call!") in his incessant banter with the ref. Incessant, of course, until he was shown a red card, ejected from the game, and sent to the parking lot.

Unfortunately for Cal Lutheran, the martyr’s protests were all for naught, as the motley band of crusaders was unable to find the holy goal and Pomona-Pitzer slipped away with a 1-0 victory.

In many ways, the match resembled the groundbreaking TV movie The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. Although I’m sure most of you remember the movie (which aired in 1981, fourteen years after the last episode of the show) I’ll provide a quick recap for those who’ve forgotten.

The Globetrotters’ plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean and, after they fight off a shark (by throwing basketballs at it) they wind up on Gilligan’s Island. Shortly after their arrival, two mad scientists enter the scene.

They want to take control of the island because of its supply of a secret form of energy that will evidently allow them to rule the world. Eventually, like most things in life, the battle for control of the island (and defense of the free world) is settled on the basketball court. The ‘Trotters face off against a team of robots specifically engineered to play basketball. With encouragement from Mary Ann (dressed in full cheerleader regalia) the Globetrotters pull off a stunning come-from-behind victory, and the scientists are forced to go home.

Now, aside from its stunningly realistic plot, the most artistic part of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island was the acting performance of the referee, who followed every blown whistle with the memorable phrase: "Foul! Foul on you!" Sadly, the performance of the referee was overlooked for an Emmy but this reporter puts it among the great acting demonstrations of the twentieth century.

Now let me try to explain how that brilliant piece of filmmaking relates to the subject of this article (Pomona-Pitzer’s soccer match against Cal Lutheran, in case you’ve forgotten.) First of all, it was a very close match. Secondly, a number of the Cal Lu players resembled robots. Thirdly, the only truly memorable part of the game was the referee.

Literally and figuratively, this referee was a man amongst a bunch of (frat) boys. Throughout the course of the game the referee showed a number of yellow cards to Cal Lu players who just couldn’t seem to keep their hands to themselves. But the Cal Lu players would not get off with only a slap on the wrist; most of them received harsh words from the voluble umpire. There was general consensus after the match that the ref’s best lines were "Enough is enough!" and "I don’t care who you are, you can’t do that on my field!" The referee was even more impressive considering that he managed to be so theatrical and still call a fair and honest game.

Pomona-Pitzer’s lone goal was scored early in the game by Matt Lee-Ashley ’04, who shot the ball past Cal Lu keeper Jason Block despite the latter’s last name. The rest of the match was a heated back-and-forth contest that included a number of scoring opportunities for both teams. Most of Pomona’s chances came from the fancy footwork of Mario Valez ’04 and the aggressive and physical play of Lee-Ashley.

Yet, it was the stifling midfield and defense that truly shined for Pomona-Pitzer on this day. In the second half, they kept Cal Lu from getting too many quality chances on goal. The few times that Cal Lu did get an open look at the net, the outstanding play of Sagehen goalkeeper Jay Schneider ‘04 kept the shutout alive.

The win put Pomona-Pitzer’s record at 2 wins and 4 losses. It has been something of a disappointing season for the men’s soccer team up to this point. In this reporter’s opinion, the low point of the season was the team’s first game in which the Sagehens were defeated by Savannah College of Art & Design. Many players on the team have argued that Savannah has a very respectable and successful team but the fact remains that they lost to a bunch of artists.

On Monday, September 24th, the Sagehens were defeated by Cal Baptist, an undefeated, ranked NAIA school. The loss was particularly disheartening because it occurred in the second overtime of the match on Pomona-Pitzer’s home field.

Cal Baptist scored in the first six minutes of play, but Pomona-Pitzer fought back and tied the game when Mario Valez ‘04 scored Pomona-Pitzer’s lone goal in the second half. A penalty in the second overtime proved deadly, as Cal Baptist scored from twenty-five yards out on a free kick.

The Sagehens defeated Cal Tech 3-0 Wednesday and are scheduled to play at Occidental on Saturday, September 29th. The Harlem Globetrotters will be playing the Washington Generals on October 2nd at the Wheeling Civic Center in Wheeling, West Virginia.