Be the Referee: Soccer Foul After Shot on Goal
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management
September 2, 2026
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Soccer Foul After Shot on Goal - Listen
We’re on the soccer field today, and the home team has the ball and is on the attack.
The ball makes it around to a forward from the home team, who is on-side and within the penalty area. His shot just misses – going wide for a goal kick.
However, just after the ball crossed the goalline, a player from the away team tackles the home team forward with excessive force.
What’s the call?
Because excessive force was used, it’s a red card for the away team player, which is an automatic ejection. But because it happened after the ball crossed the goalline and not at the time of the shot, it’s still a goal kick for the away team, not a penalty kick for the home team.
Previous 2026-27 editions
Aug. 25: Fumble Out of Bounds - Listen
Highlight Reel: East Lansing/Mason
October 30, 2014
The East Lansing boys soccer team defeated Mason 3-2 in overtime in a Division 2 Semifinal on Wednesday. See below for highlights and a link to watch the game in full (click the headers to watch).
Mason Scores First Against East Lansing - Mason scored the only goal of the first half midway through the period when Holden Dippel headed home a restart from John Kingman.
Jones Breaks Through For The Tie - Moments after Mason took a 2-1 lead in the second half, East Lansing's DeJuan Jones takes a pass, splits the defense and ties the game with 7:24 to go.
Uecker Hits The Game Winner - With time winding down in the first overtime, Will Uecker's blast deflects off a defender and into the net for the winning goal for East Lansing.
You can watch the whole game by Clicking Here.