Southern Section Girls 4-A Soccer : Wild-Card El Toro Falls a Goal Short of Claremont

The El Toro High School girls soccer team, this season’s version of the little engine that could, picked a most inopportune time to run out of steam--the Southern Section 4-A final.

The Chargers, the No. 3 entry from the South Coast League, gave highly regarded Claremont all it could handle before bowing, 3-2, in the title game on Friday at Gahr High.

Down 2-0 at halftime, the Chargers shocked Claremont with two second-half goals before the Wolfpack’s Marla Law scored what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Law’s score came at 73:14, barely five minutes after El Toro’s Karen Ferguson had tied the match. Law’s goal, her second of the night, effectively stifled El Toro’s comeback. The Chargers had come alive after their first goal and clearly had the momentum after Ferguson tied it, 2-2, at the 68:53 mark.

“I’m very happy with our team,” El Toro Coach Bob Chavez said. “I really thought we were going to beat them after we tied it up. We were rolling and they were tiring, but somehow they pushed the ball up the field and got it in good position for the score.”

That El Toro was able to come back as it did is a testament to the team’s fortitude, considering that the Chargers didn’t have the speed to match up against Claremont.

“We knew they were fast, but even after we got here we just weren’t ready for it,” Chavez said. “We weren’t beating them to the ball at all in the first half.”

Claremont, which was undefeated in Baseline League play, was beaten only once this season--by Torrance in a tournament game.

The Wolfpack (27-1) had been looking forward to meeting Torrance again, but had to gear for El Toro when the Chargers upset the Tartars in the semifinals earlier this week.

There were no tears among the El Toro players when they received their runner-up trophy and medals. The Chargers, a 17-6-2 wild-card team, had gone much farther than they were expected to under its first-year coach.

“What was it General McArthur said?” Chavez asked. “ ‘I shall return’? We’ll be back.”

With only one starter graduating, that doesn’t seem like an unreasonable expectation.