WATERLOO - A single word, blurted out in the heat of competition, brought Waterloo West's boys' soccer season to an abrupt, unsatisfying end.

The Wahawks held a 2-1 lead over Dubuque Senior in Saturday's Class 2A regional match at Sloane-Wallace Stadium when West goalkeeper Alex Frank misread a ball, giving the Rams a corner kick. Frank responded with an oath that happened to be within the hearing of the referee, who promptly ejected the keeper with a red card.

Unfortunately for the Wahawks, the red card was their fourth of the season, which under Iowa High School Athletic Association rules made the team ineligible to participate in the postseason. West athletic director Jeff Frost made a quick call the IHSAA to confirm the situation, and 10 minutes later had to make the difficult announcement that the Wahawks would forfeit the game.

"I had to call the association, and they said it's automatically done, right then and there," Frost said. "It's a bad situation for everybody and a tough way for our seniors to go out, but the rules are the rules. Even if we would have continued playing, the state would have stepped in anyway and made us forfeit the game."

The forfeiture provided a bizarre conclusion to a match in which West was visibly beginning to take control. Just 5 minutes before the red card, West had regained the lead on a well-placed crossing pass from Edis Dukic to Adi Cemalovic, and the Wahawks were up 9-4 in shots on goal.

"We came out from the very beginning playing like we wanted to advance in this tournament, and I thought we had a great shot at it," said West coach Brian Guetzlaff. "There's going to be a lot of good memories that come out of this season for us, and it's unfortunate that this is going to be one of the things that stands out."

Wahawk midfielder Amel Kanterevic gave an early indication of the type of match West wanted when a rebound found him in open space a little more than 3 minutes into the game. Kanterevic drove the shot home with authority, and West had a quick 1-0 lead.

Senior scored the tying goal on a corner kick from Chris Gaberial to Jordan Collins, which probably added to the frustration that Frank felt when he inadvertently gave the Rams a cheap corner at the 17:53 mark.

"It wasn't directed at anyone but himself, but I guess it's at the referee's discretion" Guetzlaff said. "It's unfortunate that we put ourselves in that position with the three previous red cards. (Frank) has been a rock for us back there, and he's one of the hardest-working guys on our team, as well."

The red cards were uncharacteristic of a team that has been mostly well-disciplined, according to Frost.

"We got a sportsmanship rating from our conference, and we placed fourth out of 14," Frost said. "For the most part, our players, fans and coaches have showed tremendous sportsmanship, and those red cards were isolated incidents.

"Does that make it right? No. And is what the state did correct? Absolutely, and we've got to live with those consequences, as embarrassing as they might be."

West finished with a record of 5-12. Senior moves on to face Mason City at the Cedar Valley Youth Soccer Complex on Tuesday.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD 9, EAST 0 - The expression and the red welt on Trojan keeper Sam Bender's face told the story of a winless season that finished with a 9-0 regional loss.

In the final minutes, with East trailing 8-0, Bender got in front of Mustang midfielder Phill Ruhter to prevent a ninth goal but paid the price when the shot hit him full in the face.

"(Bender) has got a lot of willpower," said Trojan coach Noah Kramer. "He's pretty self-motivated, and you see that in the way he plays."

Mustang sophomore Denis Razic doubled his season goal total with a hat trick and an assist as Hempstead (6-12) advanced to Tuesday's clash with Cedar Falls at the CVYSA's complex.

East (0-12) got its best scoring opportunities on a long run by Kevin Garcia in the early minutes and a long-ball late to Brock Kaaihue, who didn't draw a penalty shot despite being taken down in the Mustang box.

Contact Brian Pals at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com

Girls' regular season:

HEMPSTEAD 3, CEDAR FALLS 1 - At Dubuque, a goal by Mallory Adams wasn't enough for the Tigers to keep pace with the Mustangs.

CF's goal was assisted by Kelly Larson.