Junior forward Darren Spicer races down the field with the speed of a cheetah chasing a gazelle on the African savannah. He breaks free from the defender and looks for the ball as he keeps running. Sophomore midfielder Jame Wunsch then plays a perfect through ball that just barely squeezes through two defenders and goes right to the oncoming Spicer. Spicer calmly collects the ball, and blasts it into the far top corner of the net.
Goal!
The team goes wild, congratulating Spicer and the home fans at Lourie-Love field erupt in applause. But the celebrations are premature, for no one has noticed the sideline referee holding his flag high into the air.
The whistle blows and all that comes of the play is a free kick for the opposing team.
In this hypothetical play, the Tigers were called for offsides, a rule in soccer that prevents the offense from camping out behind the defenders.
The Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, defines a player as offsides if "he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent."
Effectively this means that a player is offsides if he is past the back defender without the ball, as the goalkeeper is the last opponent.
When offsides is called, a free kick is given to the defending team.
A player, however, is not offsides if he is level with the back defender, nor can he be offsides in his own half of the field. Also, on a throw-in, corner kick, or goal kick, there is no offsides.
Furthermore, even if a player is offsides, a free kick is awarded only if the receiving player "is interfering with play; or interfering with an opponent; or gaining an advantage by being in that position."
Thus a player who is offsides and not involved in a play will not result in a useless free kick.
The offsides rule is useful in preventing players from 'cherry picking' but it can also be a huge source of frustration.
Its enforcement is difficult and subjective, as often the linesman has little time in which to make a call. That call, as we have seen in our hypothetical play, can determine whether a goal is allowed.
Some defenses try to use the offsides rule to its fullest advantage by employing an offsides trap defense.
In such a maneuver, all the defensive players try to quickly push up the field in one motion, potentially leaving several offensive players offsides.
But such a strategy is dangerous and can easily backfire if a linesman misses a call or the defenders to not push up quickly enough and all at once.
It is usually best for the defense to keep playing even if they believe that a forward is offsides.
The men's soccer team has been plagued by offsides this year. They have committed 14 offsides penalties in seven games, including five in their opener at Loyola. Their opponents have been called for offsides nine times.
But it has been even worse for the women's team. They have been penalized a whopping 34 times, compared to only eight for their opponents.
At Hartford last Sunday the Tigers were called offsides 13 times. They won the game 4-0, however, proving that, while offsides penalties can be frustrating, they do not succeed in stopping a talented attack.
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