Claremont High School’s CIF bid came to an end Wednesday as the boys soccer team, the last CHS team standing, lost their second round playoff game, 1-0, at Quartz Hill High School near Lancaster.

The previous day, the girls soccer team lost to San Luis Obispo in a shootout after a scoreless tie at the end of overtime. The Tigers landed two more penalty kicks than the Pack, winning 4-2.

Last week, it was a different story as the girls led for most of the game against Pacifica, eventually winning 3-1. The boys defeated Pioneer Valley in sudden death overtime, 1-0.

The final score of the Pacifica game is somewhat misleading because the two teams were very evenly matched. Nonetheless Claremont capitalized on more opportunities and therefore deserved the win.

The match was marred by what appeared to be an overzealous referee, who gave out 10 yellow cards, seven to Claremont. One of those cards, at the 49th minute of play, was Mackenzie Boulware’s second in the game, which meant she automatically got a red card and was booted from the game. Boulware’s red card also meant that the Pack had to play the rest of the game short-handed.

Coach Tim Tracey called Boulware’s red card an “incidental foul that never should have brought a second yellow.” He and the other Claremont coaches were openly unhappy with the officiating during the game.

Claremont’s first goal came at the 27th minute, when senior Karsyn Jordan got a very nice pass from junior Katie Weaver,  allowing Jordan to tap it in. Then, at the 38th minute, senior Ashley O’Toole headed the ball in after a free kick. The Pack’s last goal came near the end of the match when senior Danielle Lagrave sent a beautiful kick past the goalkeeper, catching the top corner of the net.

Pacifica’s only goal came a few minutes later from sophomore Madison Wilt.

“When you are a man down you can’t count on others to do the work for you, you’ve got to do it yourself,” Coach Tracey said when asked about his team’s apparent reinvigoration after Boulware’s ouster.

The girls ended the season with 5-3-2 record in league and 18-6-4 overall.

The boys played a tough physical match against Pioneer Valley last Friday that ended suddenly when two sophomores teamed up for the game’s only goal.

The two teams had stubbornly fought their way to a scoreless tie after regulation time, throwing the game into overtime. However, in a playoff game the CIF has a golden goal rule, or first team to score wins, and that is exactly what happened.

Coming at the midpoint of the first OT period, Julian Bravo headed the ball in from a corner kick by Kevyn Lopez. Pioneer Valley was literally stunned as the entire Claremont bench immediately mobbed Bravo.

“I expected it to be a tough game they played hard,” said Coach Fred Bruce-Oliver after the game.

The boys ended the season as co-champions with Diamond Bar in the Palomares League with a record of 9-1, 17-5-2 overall.