UPDATE: Medford Boys Soccer Get Court Injunction To Play Saturday

ANDOVER, MA — Medford Boys Soccer is set to play in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association North Division 1 final Saturday, after they received a court injunction Friday. Andover High School had petitioned the league to allow the varsity boys soccer team to take Medford's forfeited spot in the final, after Medford was eliminated for having an ineligible player. Medford Public Schools said it was due to a "clerical error" and took legal action. Medford's appeal was denied Thursday by MIAA, and again Friday, before the court intervened.

Medford eliminated Andover from the tournament in Monday's sectional semi-final.

"Andover High School has petitioned the MIAA, the Boys Varsity Soccer Tournament Committee and the Board of Directors for the MIAA to allow the AHS Boys’ Varsity Soccer team to continue in the Division 1 North Tournament to compete against Lincoln-Sudbury on Saturday. We appreciate their consideration and look forward to their decision," said district spokeswoman Nicole Kieser.

The MIAA's decision to make Medford forfeit the season was upheld following an emergency appeal to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Council Friday afternoon. But the school received an temporary restraining order, allowing them to play in Saturday's sectional final, the organization said.

Read about recent @MIAA033 developments regarding Medford HS Boys' Soccer @PhilVaccaro @RobPearl8 @TaraBBennett11 @Napa13 pic.twitter.com/0bxWsQYWWh
— MIAA (@MIAA033) November 15, 2019

16th-seed Andover beat eighth-seed St. John's Prep in overtime to advance to the semi-finals, but they fell 8-0 to fourth-seed Medford, Monday. Lincoln-Sudbury is the tournament's third-seed team. The final is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Lynn's Manning Field.

According to the Boston Herald's Danny Ventura, the Medford player is a fifth-year student who had not played four seasons. The school should have requested a waiver for the player from the MIAA and self-reported the error to the MIAA when it was discovered, MPS said in a statement.

Christopher Huffaker is available at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.