South Torrance Stops Mater Dei

Soccer can be such an exasperating and unforgiving sport, as Mater Dei discovered Tuesday in Torrance.

For 120 minutes of play--including four overtime periods--the Monarchs played top-seeded South Torrance to a standstill, many times getting the better opportunities as the Southern Section Division II girls’ semifinal game wore down.

But South Torrance won the right to advance to its second championship game in school history when it counted most, outscoring the Monarchs, 3-1.

The Spartans buried their first three penalty kicks; Mater Dei (17-4-3) managed only one by junior midfielder Alison Fennel on the team’s first attempt.

The rest was left up to South Torrance junior goalkeeper Emily Koch. She stopped a ball to her left by Monarch Kali Felts. Spartan sophomore Kelsey Durkin fired her attempt to win the game wide right, but Mater Dei junior Shavon Melendez chose to send her attempt high and left. When it sailed over the bar the South Torrance side erupted in jubilation.

“It’s all about putting the ball in the net,” Mater Dei Coach Austin Sharp said. “I really thought deep down inside that we were going to win this game. I really did.

“They had their chances, we had ours. We never really tested [Koch] in the second half and that’s to their credit.”

It will go down in the books as a shutout--the 29th of the season for South Torrance (27-0-4), which will meet Santa Margarita in the final.

South Torrance held a 20-11 overall shot advantage and Koch made nine saves. Her Mater Dei counterpart, Rachael Slocum-Johnson, had 12.

South Torrance had difficultly settling the ball all day.

“It was anxiety,” Coach Jon Kiester said. “It was a big game and there were a lot of people here and it was nerves.”

Both teams had opportunities in overtime, mainly off free kicks and corner kicks, but neither could convert.

In the other semifinal:

Santa Margarita 2, Corona Centennial 0--Centennial could not generate any offense throughout the game because of strong defensive play by Amy Dawson, who recorded eight steals. Santa Margarita scored its first goal in the first half by Marisa Galvin, assisted by Rebecca Roy.

Samantha Bartlett capped the Eagles’ victory with a second-half score. Katie Frattone assisted on that goal. Erin Reagan had four saves in the shutout. Santa Margarita is 15-5-4. Centennial finished 22-3-2.