Why the TSSAA changed Tennessee's high school soccer overtime rules

MURFREESBORO — High school soccer coaches will see a change in Tennessee's overtime rules once teams reach the postseason starting in the fall.

The TSSAA Board of Control eliminated the two golden goal, or sudden death, five-minute periods. Overtime games in postseason will be two 10-minute periods. If there is still a tie after the second 10-minute period the game will go to penalty kicks.

The postseason overtime rules nearly mirror what the TSSAA allows teams to do in the regular season.

The TSSAA currently allows districts to play an overtime format in the regular season where teams play two 10-minute golden goal periods. If there remains a tie, the game goes to penalty kicks.

TSSAA assistant director Mark Reeves said the recommendation for the rule change came from the association's soccer advisory committee.

"When we looked at the other states, we were one of only two states that still had that full NFHS recommendation there, so that recommendation was not common practice," Reeves said. "The discussion was more do you mirror the regular season tiebreaker, which doesn't have the five minutes. 

"We wanted to go to something closer to what we do in the regular season, but not replicate it entirely."

Reeves said fatigue was a factor in adjusting the overtime rule. Teams could play 110 minutes before going to penalty kicks under the old format. Now 10 minutes are trimmed.

"You would think that more injuries occur when athletes are fatigued," Reeves said.

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Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com or on Twitter @Kreager.