By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

A shortened soccer game between Mehl-ville Senior High School and Gibault Cath-olic High School of Waterloo, Ill., ended in a tie after Panther head coach Scott Jack-son pulled his players off the field, alleging inappropriate fan conduct.

Mehlville tied the game 2-2 late in the second half and fans began voicing their displeasure, said Jackson, who alleges fans were yelling slurs to the Mehlville Bosnian players.

“They were telling our Bosnian players to go back home …,” Jackson told the Call. “That’s just not called for and we’re definitely not going to schedule them again.”

Gibault officials were unavailable for comment Monday — when the Call went to press — because of Columbus Day holiday.

As the game went into the second overtime period, Jackson decided to pull his team after a Gibault parent stormed the field.

“We got about three minutes into the second overtime period and I told the referees that we’re done, and they agreed with me because it was completely out of control,” Jackson said.

The Panthers (9-7-2, 4-1-1 Suburban West) found themselves battling a gritty Hawks squad and a 2-0 deficit after the first half.

“We kind of put ourselves in a bad position down 2-0 at the half,” Jackson said. “We ended up coming out in the second half and putting together two nice goals.”

Sophomore forward Almin Sabotic trimmed the Hawks’ lead to 2-1 on his fourth goal in the past three games. He currently has five goals and three assists this season.

“The kid’s got tremendous skill,” Jackson said. “He reads the game well from the flanker position and he’s been playing really well. He’s basically been at the right place at the right time.”

Senior striker Senad Cavka kicked Mehl-ville’s second goal of the night. Cavka has seven goals this season.

“I was a little worried going into the season because Senad was so offensive-minded,” Jackson said.

“But going into the season he told the coaching staff that he wanted to play in college and he’s got a couple of schools on his trail,” he said.

The Panthers play host to Lafayette in a Suburban West Conference game at 5 p.m. today — Oct. 14.

“It’s going to be a big one for us,” Jack-son said.

“They got us last year and we were not ready for them. There’s definitely some kind of rivalry now between Lafayette and Mehlville.”