When Indiana defender Ofori Sarkodie clenched his fist and swung at Penn State's Treavor Gelsinger during Saturday night's men's soccer game, Peter Dhima had a chance to keep the contest under control.
But by not reaching into his back pocket to pull out a card, the referee allowed a once hard-fought, but clean, contest to spiral into chaos.
For 65 minutes the game was a typical Big Ten rivalry match filled with tough challenges and mid-air collisions. There was absolutely nothing dirty about it.
But in the 66th minute, that all changed.
Following a tackle by Gelsinger, Sarkodie took exception. He rose to his feet, some shoving ensued, and when it finally appeared as if the two had broken up, Sarkodie retaliated in what could be described as less than a punch but more than a slap.
While fans groaned and waited to see whether Dhima would assess the Hoosier defender a red or a yellow card, the Nittany Lions' bench screamed for certain ejection.
Dhima had one chance to put an end to the chaos by showing Sarkodie the red, but instead he verbally warned the junior defender and never even considered reaching into his pocket or asking the other officials for help on the call. With this decision the game spiraled out of control.
Too many times in soccer, cards are assessed with little reasoning behind them, but that was not the case Saturday. Because Dhima refused to draw the line, the remainder of the game became chippy and at the sound of almost every whistle to stop play some sort of argument or skirmish ensued.
Referees have two jobs: to make the correct calls and to make sure the game does not get out of hand. Although it wasn't a vicious headbutt, there are similarities to Zinédine Zidane's acts in the 2006 World Cup.
Despite having his back turned to the entire play, referee Horacio Elizondo, coolly conferred with his side judges and ultimately settled the chaos that could have followed the 110th minute of the title match by showing Zidane the red -- ending all disputes.
Obviously Dhima is not a world-class referee, but unlike the Zidane play, Sarkodie's punch happened right in front of his eyes.
Dhima called a great game aside from this one decision, but the final 25 minutes were played with reckless abandon by both sides, because the players knew if he wouldn't pull out a card for that, there would be very few instances in which he did.
In the 73rd minute Hoosier midfielder Neil Wilmarth shoved Lion captain Ryan Badaracco to the ground after a hard tackle. Fifteen minutes later two Hoosiers pulled down Lion midfielder Matheus Braga on the side of the 18-yard-box in blatant frustration after being beat down the left wing.
The Lions, who held a 1-0 lead at the time, refused to retaliate in fear of jeopardizing what would become one of their biggest victories of the season.
While Penn State coach Barry Gorman refused to comment on Dhima, he pointed out the importance of officiating in Big Ten contests.
"You need a good official and a strong official, especially for these games," he said. "Big Ten games are very competitive, and they do go get heated, so a lot is on the line."
As for Gelsinger, the victim of Sarkodie's slap/punch, if he knows the referee won't protect him, the next time something like this happens what is to stop him from retaliating? Athletes are taught at a young age not to fight back because the officials will take care of the situation, but when an official refuses to do so, as Dhima did Saturday night, what is that player supposed to do?
Gelsinger showed excellent restraint following the incident, and should have been rewarded by seeing his opponent sent to the Indiana dressing room in the shadow of Dhima's red card.
Instead, Dhima, who made very few other mistakes on the night, will be remembered as the man who let a great physical soccer game become a brawl.
All because he refused to reach into his back pocket.
