Hart Uses 1-2 Punch to Flatten Lancers

Call it The Danger Zone, that strip down the center of the field where Erin Misaki and Laura Qualls are so dangerous with the ball.

The center midfielders for the Hart High girls soccer team were at it again Thursday, figuring in two scoring plays for the Indians in a 2-1 victory over Thousand Oaks in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal.

Hart trailed, 1-0, midway through the first half before Misaki set up Mandy Stupar for the tying goal in the 26th minute, and Qualls scored 10 minutes later.

The Indians (23-1-2) will play Claremont on Tuesday in a semifinal.

Thousand Oaks, the Marmonte League’s third-place finisher, played capably but could not stay with Hart, the Foothill League champion, in the midfield or on defense.

“Something just wasn’t clicking today,” Thousand Oaks Coach Gail Kanney said. “We tried to [defend Misaki and Qualls] but we just didn’t play them tough enough.”

Thousand Oaks (15-8-2) opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Molly Bauer lofted a 25-yard free kick into the Hart penalty area, where Kristie Nakamura leaped above a defender and headed the ball into the net for her 24th goal.

As it had from the opening whistle, the Lancers continued to control play for another 10 minutes, before a breakdown allowed Hart to forge a tie and seize momentum.

After Bauer turned the ball over at midfield, Misaki gained control and passed through the heart of the Thousand Oaks defense to a running Stupar.

Moving down the left side of the penalty area, Stupar was challenged by Lancer goalkeeper Nicole Straky, but beat her with a 10-yard shot to the right post for her 18th goal.

The goal seemed to energize Hart, which began moving the ball upfield more and more successfully.

In the 36th minute, Qualls struck for the decisive goal after gathering a ball 40 yards from the goal. She maneuvered past two defenders and outran Susan Shivokevich, the Lancers’ sweeper and last season’s Marmonte League defensive player of the year.

In alone on Straky, Qualls scored from 10 yards, her 28th goal.

“I wanted to pass it out wide at first,” Qualls said. “But the ball went through one of the [defenders’] legs and I was free to go.”