2018 MLS Week 3 Referee Discussion

Discussion in 'MLS Referee Forum' started by bhooks, Mar 13, 2018.

  1. bhooks

    bhooks Member

    Apr 14, 2015
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    The assignments for Week 3 of the 2018 Major League Soccer season:

    03/17/2018

    D.C. United v Houston Dynamo
    Maryland SoccerPlex (1:30PM ET)
    REFEREE: DAVID GANTAR
    AR1: PHIL BRIERE
    AR2: GIANNI FACCHINI
    4TH: SORIN STOICA
    VAR: GEOFF GAMBLE

    Philadelphia Union v Columbus Crew
    Talen Energy Stadium (2PM ET)
    REFEREE: NIMA SAGHAFI
    AR1: PETER MANIKOWSKI
    AR2: PETER BALCIUNAS
    4TH: MARCOS DEOLIVEIRA
    VAR: JORGE GONZALEZ

    Minnesota United v Chicago Fire
    TCF Bank Stadium (2PM ET)
    REFEREE: ALEX CHILOWICZ
    AR1: JASON WHITE
    AR2: FELISHA MARISCAL
    4TH: BALDOMERO TOLEDO
    VAR: KEVIN TERRY JR

    Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
    Stade Olympique (3PM ET)
    REFEREE: ROBERT SIBIGA
    AR1: COREY PARKER
    AR2: NICK URANGA
    4TH: ARMANDO VILLARREAL
    VAR: SILVIU PETRESCU

    New York City FC v Orlando City
    Yankee Stadium (3:30PM ET)
    REFEREE: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO
    AR1: BRIAN POESCHEL
    AR2: BRIAN DUNN
    4TH: DANIEL RADFORD
    VAR: ALAN KELLY

    Atlanta United v Vancouver Whitecaps
    Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:30PM ET)
    REFEREE: ISMAIL ELFATH
    AR1: MATTHEW NELSON
    AR2: ADAM GARNER
    4TH: RUBIEL VAZQUEZ
    VAR: JUAN GUZMAN JR

    Sporting Kansas City v San Jose Earthquakes
    Children’s Mercy Park (8:30PM ET)
    REFEREE: ALLEN CHAPMAN
    AR1: ADAM WIENCKOWSKI
    AR2: KEVIN KLINGER
    4TH: HILARIO GRAJEDA
    VAR: EDVIN JURISEVIC

    Real Salt Lake v New York Red Bulls
    Rio Tinto Stadium (9PM ET)
    REFEREE: TED UNKEL
    AR1: EDUARDO MARISCAL
    AR2: MICHAEL KAMPMEINERT
    4TH: FOTIS BAZAKOS
    VAR: DREW FISCHER

    03/18/2018

    FC Dallas v Seattle Sounders
    Toyota Stadium (5PM ET)
    REFEREE: CHRISTOPHER PENSO
    AR1: JEFFREY HOSKING
    AR2: APOLINAR MARISCAL
    4TH: ALEJANDRO MARISCAL
    VAR: KEVIN STOTT
     
  2. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    South Jersey
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Match counts for this week's referees and ARs:

    DC vs HOU: Gantar - 54th [Briere - 92nd, Facchini - 63rd]
    PHI vs CLB: Saghafi - 18th [Manikowski - 182nd, Balciunas - 146th]
    MIN vs CHI: Chilowicz - 4th [White - 59th, F. Mariscal - 40th]
    MTL vs TOR: Sibiga - 49th [Parker - 136th, Uranga - 24th]
    NYC vs ORL: Rivero - 93rd [Poeschel - 121st, Dunn - 95th]
    ATL vs VAN: Elfath - 106th [Nelson - 90th, Garner - 139th]
    SKC vs SJ: Chapman - 111th [Wienckowski - 191st, Klinger - 79th]
    RSL vs NYR: Unkel - 56th [E. Mariscal - 55th, Kampmeinert - 98th]
    DAL vs SEA: Penso - 125th [Hosking - 121st, Ap. Mariscal - 45th]
     
    usaref, YoungRef87 and sitruc repped this.
  3. YoungRef87

    YoungRef87 Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 5, 2018
    Having a game at the Maryland Soccerplex is a really bad move by DC. The “stadium” has only around 5,000 capacity.
     
  4. MassachusettsRef

    MassachusettsRef Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 30, 2001
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They've played USOC games there regularly. It's a grass field that hosts another professional team, won't cost much to use, and won't have a bunch of football lines or college team logos all over the pitch.

    What's the alternative?

    Not having a stadium isn't an ideal situation. But given the options, picking Soccerplex seems fine. The other home match not at the new stadium year will be at Navy, which has its own challenges.
     
  5. ptref

    ptref Member

    Manchester United
    United States
    Aug 5, 2015
    Bowling Green, KY
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You can also let people sit on the hill behind one of the goals.

    Anyway, think of the atmosphere that they will have. That place should be packed!
     
  6. YoungRef87

    YoungRef87 Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 5, 2018
    I live about 45 minutes from the Soccerplex, and I’ve been there often. I was talking more about facilities (locker rooms, bathrooms, parking, etc.) Plus, I heard that the Plex was hosting 2 other events at the same time.
     
  7. GlennAA11

    GlennAA11 Member+

    Jun 12, 2001
    Arlington, VA
    Apparently they've only sold somewhere between 3000 and 3500 tickets. MLS was not happy about the officials' locker room situation and wasn't going to allow them to play this match there. But given the lack of other alternatives (and MLS's insistence that the team play a few local games before the stadium is ready) they acquiesced after the club offered to provide some sort of trailer for the officials to use. I expect it will be a bit of a mess given the large youth tournament going on at the same venue at the same time.Given how terrible the team is and how much the front office has tried to alienate all of their fans there will be plenty of space for everyone.

    Somehow the NWSL team is able to deal with the venue's limitations. And as noted they have played many USOC games there for years. It's a beautiful pitch and certainly very intimate.
     
  8. code1390

    code1390 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 25, 2007
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm curious how the VAR setup is for the game if they struggled to get a decent officials locker room.
     
  9. GoDawgsGo

    GoDawgsGo Member+

    Nov 11, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sure, but it's just a few games before they are moving in to a pretty awesome long term SSS. Tis what it is. Can't wait to go up and check it out.
     
  10. MassachusettsRef

    MassachusettsRef Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 30, 2001
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS or PRO? Or PSRA, for that matter?

    Meh. The referee accommodations should not be deemed suitable for NWSL, just like several USL facilities should be unacceptable. There have been problems in NWSL matches and reports have been submitted related to the Soccerplex referee accommodations. Nothing is done and, likely, nothing will ever be done.

    Levels far below what should be considered professionally sufficient are accepted and continue both because referees want to keep working and the teams in NWSL and USL only have so much money and so many options. It's a tricky situation because most involved want to put the game first. But one shouldn't draw a conclusion that because professional matches are regularly played at a venue, the facilities are up to professional-level standards.

    The standards that govern USOC are in the USOC Handbook and overseen by USSF. MLS standards are different and much higher.
     
    nylaw5 repped this.
  11. MassachusettsRef

    MassachusettsRef Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 30, 2001
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm also curious about VAR. The locker room issue is mostly irrelevant to the question, though. VAR has been trialed at preseason in Arizona and at Generation Adidas--it can be implemented at second-rate or third-rate facilities. But when DCU has played at Soccerplex in the past (or when the Spirit play there) there are limited television cameras. So I just wonder what the technical abilities will be for the match.
     
  12. MassachusettsRef

    MassachusettsRef Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 30, 2001
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    These are all good reasons why Soccerplex is a bad idea. But the question still remains... what's the alternative?

    I guess they could have done Navy twice? I haven't read up on why it was available for one of these matches but not the other. Or, perhaps, DCU chose the smaller capacity Soccerplex for the earlier, more cold weather match?
     
  13. socal lurker

    socal lurker Member+

    May 30, 2009
    Maybe I'm a cynic, but I'm guessing they will run it out of a truck with fewer cameras--and there will be no public discussion beyond that they solved the issue with the truck. Since VAR has been seamless and wonderful, no reason to say anything that might cause any questions . . ..
     
  14. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    It should be. It won't be.
     
    YoungRef87 repped this.
  15. YoungRef87

    YoungRef87 Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 5, 2018
    You make a good point about cold weather. I’m actually going to the game at Navy. It will be interesting to see what the attendance will be.
     
  16. GlennAA11

    GlennAA11 Member+

    Jun 12, 2001
    Arlington, VA
    There is another event at Navy this weekend (men's and women's lacrosse games) so the stadium was not available. I don't understand why they couldn't postpone the match until Sunday and play there though. Steve Goff (Wash Post soccer reporter) mentioned that they couldn't move it because of TV, but that seems like a fairly weak excuse given the current TV partner which has a lot of flexibility.

    With respect to who exactly at MLS (or PRO) objected to the accommodations, I have no idea. I don't suppose it really matters, does it? They raised the issue and the club managed to find a way to do something about it. (Given how amateurish this organization is I wouldn't expect it to be a very good solution though)
     
  17. threeputzzz

    threeputzzz Member+

    May 27, 2009
    Minnesota
    Has RFK been demolished?
     
  18. code1390

    code1390 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 25, 2007
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, but DCs new stadium won't be open until closer to summer.
     
  19. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    South Jersey
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's only on local television, and neither channel is an affiliate. I can't imagine either one is airing anything that couldn't be pre-empted. KUBE is completely independent. NewsChannel 8 is on cable and a sister-station to WJLA-7.
     
  20. threeputzzz

    threeputzzz Member+

    May 27, 2009
    Minnesota
    Is there some other event at RFK that day? Or was there no option to play there until the new stadium is open? Seems a bit daft if the former venue will sit empty while they play at a tiny stadium, but then again this is DC so daft is kinda the norm these days :D
     
  21. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    There is an event in the lots, but the team was committed to not return for some sort of pride issue. It was obvious prior to last season that the countdown for RFK matches wouldn't be a good idea. Team offices are still there and that's still where the team practices (although mostly on aux fields).
     
  22. YoungRef87

    YoungRef87 Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 5, 2018
    Also, the field at RFK is no longer maintained.
     
  23. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    South Jersey
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Paul Rejer may have jumped ship from PRO to YATR, but apparently he's still writing a play of the week article if anyone's interested. I'm morbidly curious, but not enough to actually give him the pageview.
     
  24. ptref

    ptref Member

    Manchester United
    United States
    Aug 5, 2015
    Bowling Green, KY
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What is YATR?
     
  25. code1390

    code1390 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 25, 2007
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

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