hahaha, I didn't even mean to post that article in here. By the time I realized I'd posted it in the wrong forum it was too late to edit it out. I do agree, though. As my granny says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Okay. I have talked to the author of the CyberSoccer article on the Charge v Freedom semifinal. I told him about what you all said about the article since he doesn't hang around this site. First of all, while Abby Wombach was not in the play during the goal, he believes(from memory) that Abby was within a couple of yards of the goalkeeper and that warrants an offside because theoretically she was obstructing the goal area. It was a pass from the side towards the goal area. It could have missed Jacqui and gone on to Abby. That's what he said about that. Second of all, he takes back the Pu Wei push. It was close but he felt that it was just a little too aggressive. Inside the box the offender and defender both have to be careful and he felt that the offender overpowered too much. Also Abby was on thin ice because of the earlier fouls. 50/50 maybe but he felt that by that time in the match Abby was playing with fire. He says that he diddn't see Clemens run over Moore or the handballs. Honest mistakes he tells me. Finally, if there's a bit of bitterness towards the Freedom it was misplaced. He was looking for excuses to blame the Freedom when in fact they had played a good match. As he details in the article, he believe the Charge horribly failed on tactics and strategy for this match. Before the match he told me that if it's 0-0 at halftime then the Freedom have the advantage despite the Charge scoring most of their goals in the second half. They should have changed the formation for this match. They knew about Moore. They knew that going into the second half, the Freedom would have the advantage due to Mia coming in. There was only one sub before the goal. He is upset and frustrated about the loss. But he says that the Freedom deserved it.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding would be that offside should only have been called if: - Abby actually did get the pass (obviously) - Abby prevented Moore from getting to the ball going to Jacqui (no way - it was too far out) - Jacqui (theoretically) took a shot that went in because Abby was screening Moore
The LOTG says the attacking player (Wombat) is not in an offside position if she: 1. was not involved in active play, and 2. does not gain an advantage from being in that offside position