Southern Section Soccer Championships : Mission Viejo, Torrance Have Rematch : Tartars Get Chance to Avenge Upset in December Tournament

Dale Walker, Torrance High School girls’ soccer coach, stood at midfield a little more than two months ago, shaking his head at what he called an “unlucky day.” Hiram deFries, Mission Viejo coach, stood nearby, happy but mystified.

Mission Viejo had just beaten highly regarded Torrance, 4-0, in the Ocean View Tournament title match. Torrance had outshot the Diablos, 16-7, but could not score. Put simply, it was Mission Viejo’s day.

Tonight they meet again. Mission Viejo, the top-seeded team in the Southern Section 4-A playoffs, will play second-seeded Torrance for the championship starting at 6 p.m. at Gahr High School in Cerritos. Torrance (22-2-4) has not lost since that December day, and Mission Viejo (26-0-1) has not lost at all.

Unseeded Mater Dei (24-2-1) will play fourth-seeded West Torrance in the Southern Section 4-A boys’ championship at 8 tonight, also at Gahr.

The rivalry between the Mission Viejo and Torrance girls’ teams is longstanding. They have averaged two meetings a season over the past four years, and the results are about even, Walker said. Last season, Mission Viejo edged the Tartars on penalty kicks in a Southern Section playoff semifinal and went on to share the championship with Edison.

“We’re hoping for a little better result this time,” Walker said.

The only other loss for Torrance this season came against Laguna Hills, the top-seeded 3-A team that was upset by Alemany in the quarterfinals.

Mission Viejo is led by sophomore midfielder Julie Foudy, forward Stacey Hopper, fullback Sheri Bertell and goalkeeper Julie Hembree.

Shannon Maddock, Torrance’s senior star, has scored 190 career goals, 48 this season.

“We know them and they know us,” Walker said. “I think they know it’s going to be a tough game. That score of 4-0 is not indicative of any game between these teams.”

Two upstarts will meet in the boys’ final. Mater Dei (24-2-1) upset second-seeded Royal in a quarterfinal and edged South Torrance on penalty kicks in a semifinal to advance to the title game for the first time in school history. West Torrance (22-5-0) advanced to the championship by upsetting No. 1 Westlake in a semifinal.

Junior Paul Oldham, who has scored 40 goals, leads the Monarchs. Goalkeeper Mike Reis has allowed only one goal in the playoffs, and it was his save of a South Torrance penalty kick that put the Monarchs in the final.

West Torrance has a balanced scoring attack, and Mike Kafka leads the team with 11 goals. Goalkeeper Geoff Lloyd has not allowed a goal in the playoffs.