HCC Women’s Soccor Team Must Forfeit Two Victories

(HCC Sports Information)

Hutchinson Community College Athletic Director Randy Stange announced on Thursday that the HCC women’s soccer team will have to forfeit two victories this season because an ineligible player was used.

The Lady Dragons will forfeit an 8-0 Jayhawk Conference victory over Allen Community College and a 9-0 Region VI victory over Hesston College. The games were played on Saturday and Monday at the USD 308 Athletic Complex.

The eligibility mistake was discovered on Wednesday afternoon. The HCC Athletic Department immediately self-reported the error to the Jayhawk Conference office and the NJCAA national office.

The player in question was injured to start the season and wasn’t cleared to play by the HCC Sports Medicine Staff until Sept. 9. She hadn’t at that point been officially put on the eligibility list, but played in the Allen and Hesston games.

“It was an unfortunate mistake,” Stange said. “The error was made unintentionally, but the error was made. We will accept the consequences of that error.”

The NJCAA ruled the two games the player competed in must be forfeited. The player is eligible to play for the remainder of the season.

It is not the policy of the Blue Dragon Athletic Department to release names of players who are ineligible because of federal student privacy laws. And in this particular instance, the player was in no way at fault for the error that occurred.

Because of the forfeitures, three major winning or unbeaten streaks will come to an end for Lady Dragon soccer.

HCC’s 22-game winning streak and 29-game unbeaten streak (28-0-1) at the USD 308 Athletic Complex that dates back to 2007 come to an end. Hutchinson will also see a 26-game Jayhawk Conference winning streak and a 38-game regular-season unbeaten streak (37-0-1) that dates back to 2008 will also end.

“It was an unintentional mistake that cost our team two wins,” HCC head coach Sammy Lane.

Entering play on Friday at Western Nebraska, Hutchinson’s overall record will be 4-2, 3-1 in the Jayhawk Conference and 3-2 in the Region VI standings.