After the ball hit the wall(could have been a hand) the ball bounced back to Acree who dribbled by a couple of defenders into the box before losing it, after NW cleared the ball, Acree was shoved to the ground. The AR saw it but the center was looking a different way. After a discussion Irmo was awarded a pk.
If a foul was called and Acree was awarded a PK, don't you think there would have been a card given? Is there any situation when a foul in the field outside the box will result in a PK? The only one I can think of is if the last defender pulls down a player on a break. But that's an automatic red card.
The call was on the hand ball.
I was on the sideline last night (Northwestern bench side) observing crowd control and hosting Sheldon Shealer of ESPN Rise magazine. A former high school coach was with us as well and he was near the trainers tent at the non-scoreboard end of Memorial Stadium where the infraction took place. I asked him what happened on the penalty kick and he said that it was awarded due to an obvious push in the box. I don't know the specifics, but it makes sense as the hand ball would have been seen directly by the referee (and myself since that line of view was in front of me). The push down of Zach Acree took place on the Irmo touchline side away from me and no cautions were issued, but the penalty kick was awarded after consultation with the AR. It was converted to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Trojans.
