Former UCSB Soccer Player Pleads Guilty to Battery of Sports Official

Peter McGlynn, the former UCSB soccer player who pushed a referee at the end of a match last year, pleaded guilty to battery of a sports official. He also pleaded to an added count of resisting, delaying, or obstructing a police officer.

McGlynn will be sentenced in September, giving him time to do community service and take anger management courses. If he completes those by his sentencing date, the District Attorney’s Office will dismiss the battery charge, prosecutor Gary Gemberling said, and McGlynn will be placed on probation for the resisting arrest charge.

McGlynn must complete 300 hours of community service, a number of which he has already fulfilled, his attorney Tara Haaland-Ford said. “Peter was immediately remorseful after this happened,” Haaland-Ford said. “He was embarrassed. He felt like he let down his team, his boosters, and he really felt badly about this.”

Gemberling said the referee was content with the resolution in the case, and he didn’t want the incident to ruin the young man’s life. “Ultimately, he is a good guy who made a mistake,” Haaland-Ford said.

McGlynn, who is from Ireland, was a starting midfielder for the Gauchos.