Last year at this time, Tyler Pineo was making about $10 per game working as a ballboy during Central High boys soccer games.

This year, however, Pineo has chosen to do his work for free – as the Red Devils’ starting goalie.

Although it’s still early in the season, the senior has had a successful varsity debut, allowing one goal in three games as Central of Corinth has gone 3-0 in its first season in Eastern Maine Class B.

“I just try to keep the ball out,” he said with a shrug. “My defense helps me out a lot with that.”

So how did Pineo make the move from the sidelines to a starting position on the field?

Pineo had been a solid middle school goalie but gave up soccer in high school to focus on basketball, which is where he has made his mark. But last year, Pineo made a bargain with friend and classmate Scott Kelley, who is serving as a soccer captain this fall. Pineo agreed to play soccer if Kelley would play basketball.

“We made a deal,” Pineo said after a 4-0 win over Foxcroft Academy last week. “We had just graduated our point guard and [the soccer team] had graduated their goalie. So Scotty played basketball last year.”

And so Pineo is holding up his end of the bargain by playing goalie.

Central soccer coach Paul Speed said he expected last year’s backup goalie, Jon Daniel, to be the starter but found he liked the Red Devils better with Daniel in the field. Daniel is now starting in the defense as a stopper.

“With Tyler in goal and Jon on the field, it gives us a better defense,” Speed said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.”

Pineo’s soft hands in goal have also been an asset, Speed added. Pineo said adjustment from basketball and soccer has been harder than he expected, but he uses some of his basketball skills in goal.

“Running on grass is a lot different than a basketball court,” he said. “I found some new muscles that were sore during tryouts. … [Playing goalie] can be a lot like chasing down a rebound sometimes and I have pretty good hands, so that helps.”

Pineo is looking forward to getting back to basketball, especially because he missed part of his junior season due to an injured ankle. Kelley, however, isn’t sure what he’ll be doing this winter now that he has fulfilled his part of the agreement.

“It’s still up in the air,” Kelley said with a smile. “We’ll see when the season comes.”

Soccer refs like changes

Soccer pregame equipment checks are a thing of the past, while sportsmanship talks are in.

Those are two major changes mandated by the National Federation of State High School Associations and carried out this fall by local high school soccer referees that players likely have noticed this fall as they returned to the field.

This year, referees are no longer asking players to line up before games to make sure each student-athlete has his or her proper equipment. Instead, per National Federation rules, the referees will ask each coach if his or her players are properly equipped.

Proper equipment includes a mouthguard, shinguards, legal braces or casts, and no jewelry.

“The National Federation has put the onus on the coaches to make sure the players are properly equipped, so it’s their responsibility,” said official Darren Hall, a Hampden resident who is the local rules interpreter. “In a match, if we find out a player isn’t properly equipped, the coach gets a yellow card.”

However, if a player is found during a game to have done something illegal to his or her uniform – say, tossed aside a shinguard or is playing the ball without a mouthguard – the player can be issued a yellow card.

Hall and fellow referee Tonya Pickering of Orono, who were working a game together last week, said they like the new rule.

“We’re here to referee the game,” Hall said. “We’re not here to be the disciplinarian, make sure you have this or that. I think it’s good. It’s the coaches’ job. It’s probably the right way to go.”

The other change also has to do with pregame activities. Before the game starts, when the teams are still on their respective sidelines, the referees are approaching each team to ask the players to display good sportsmanship. It’s a quick talk, not long enough to get into the definition of sportsmanship but long enough to remind the players why they’re there.

“It’s an interscholastic competition and the game’s important, trying to win is important, but there are more important things, like representing your school,” Hall said.

Pickering said in previous years when she did an equipment check, she might say a few words about sportsmanship. Now that equipment checks are out, Pickering likes having a chance to talk to the teams specifically about sportsmanship.

“I think it helps,” she said. “It sets the bar for what we expect. I think the coaches and parents appreciate it.”