Claremont Uses Heady Play to End Torrance’s Title Hopes : Soccer: Tartars’ streak ends in 1-0 Southern Section Division I quarterfinal loss.

Torrance High senior Kim Blankinship called it a lucky shot. So did Claremont’s Sarah Coleman.

Lucky or not, Coleman’s head shot with less than three minutes left was enough to lift the Wolfpack to a 1-0 victory over the top-seeded Tartars in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal soccer match at Claremont on Thursday.

“It was a game of luck, and our luck was bad,” Blankinship said. “It was just one of those shots that went in. I wish we could have gotten one of those.”

Fullback Kristin Hele set up the goal with a free kick from midfield after Torrance’s Kristin White was called for a pushing foul.

With Coleman facing away from to the goal, Hele’s pass deflected off the back of the senior forward’s head and over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Jenny Halladay.

“I put my eyes on the ball and was ready for it,” Coleman said. “It was a good strong kick but I didn’t know I had scored.”

The shot ruined Halladay’s bid for her 18th shutout and a scoring opportunity Torrance co-Coach Karen Jackson thinks that Claremont never should have never had.

“It was a foul that was called some of the times and not at others,” Jackson said. “I hate to see a small foul ending up to be a game winner. Even though the officiating was fair, it was a foul that ended us costing us.”

Claremont’s victory ended an 11-match postseason winning streak dating to 1991 for Torrance (22-3-1), the two-time defending 3-A champion. The Tartars had defeated Santa Margarita, 2-1 in overtime, in a first-round match Feb. 18.

Last season, the Tartars tied a section record with 17 consecutive shutouts and tied another for fewest goals in a season en route to the championship.

The Pioneer League champions had won 14 in a row entering Thursday’s match. Torrance was playing with three freshman in its starting lineup after losing seniors Lisa Liebenau and Jennifer Yokoyama because of injuries.

“We have an inexperienced front line but our defense has still been pretty strong,” said Jackson, whose team had a 49-game win streak snapped by Pasadena Poly in December. “It’s a lot harder for them to hang in there in physical matches like these.”

Unseeded Claremont (21-1-4), the Baseline League runner-up, will play Simi Valley, a 2-0 winner of Edison, in a semifinal match on Tuesday.

Claremont and Torrance had four corner kicks each. The Wolfpack outshot the Tartars, 18-11, but Torrance was unable to capitalize on two free kicks in the last nine minutes.

A free kick by Blankinship from 20 yards out with less than a minute to play glanced the top of the crossbar.

“We had our opportunities but we just couldn’t score,” Blankinship said. “If there was any pressure for us to win it was pressure from us wanting to win too much.”

Blankinship and Kelly Formiller had a team-high four shots on goal for Torrance.

Claremont, unbeaten in its last 10 matches, had a 7-5 edge on shots in the first half. Goalkeeper Andrea Janousek, a freshman who did not give up a goal in the Wolfpack’s first 13 matches, had nine saves.

“The first half we played kind of weak,” Jackson said. “The second half we turned it around and dominated. I thought we were killing them. It’s a frustrating way to lose.”