Two 18-year-olds charged with assault after incident at Worcester high school soccer game, police say

The violent incident occurred at a game between South High Community School and Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester.

Two people are facing assault and battery charges after a violent incident at a high school soccer game in Worcester, officials said.

The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 at South High Community School, a Worcester police spokesperson said. The department confirmed that two 18-year-olds were charged with assault and battery.

The spokesperson referred further questions to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, saying that both had already been arraigned as of Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, however, said that they did not have records of the two individuals being arraigned. Worcester police did not immediately return a request for clarification.

“The students involved in the altercation are being subjected to disciplinary action by their schools, teams, and potentially law enforcement,” a spokesperson for Worcester Public Schools said in a statement.

The incident occurred during a game between South High and Doherty Memorial High School. Cellphone video obtained by WHDH shows two players fighting for control of the ball when one, a Doherty player wearing white, falls down. A South High player in red can then be seen kicking the downed player repeatedly. Other members of the Doherty team run over to defend their teammate, chasing the South High player off the field.

“I just heard him getting kicked in the back of the head. It was kind of shocking,” Doherty player Alteo Spaho told WHDH.