Quartz Hill Makes Its Best Shot Count, 1-0

Aerick Brown stood bundled and shivering on the sideline, wearing a serious expression.

Brown, who loves to chatter, had nothing to say.

And for a good reason.

The second-year Westlake High coach had just watched his girls’ soccer team tumble out of the playoffs long before expected.

And continuing a worrisome trend, the Warriors had no business losing.

Quartz Hill knew it, the fans knew it and the Warriors are feeling the pain. The anticipated match-up between Westlake and Buena will have to wait.

With the Warriors thoroughly dominating play, Quartz Hill scored late in the second half on its only shot on goal of the game to pull off a 1-0 victory in the second round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs on a windy Tuesday afternoon at Quartz Hill.

“We expected to be in the finals, Brown said. “We thought we had a good enough team to get there. That’s the game of soccer. They got two good chances and one of them they finished. We missed over 20.”

Shannon Murray headed in a cross from Kellie Cox in the 74th minute to propel the Rebels (20-1-2) into the quarterfinals Thursday against top-seeded Buena (29-0).

“I was just so excited, said Murray, whose goal snapped a 704-minute streak in which the Warriors had not yielded a goal. “I had a feeling it was going to go in because it was close to the ground.”

The goal was the Rebels lone bright spot besides a Cox shot that went wide minutes earlier. Westlake goalkeeper Katie Peck never touched the ball with her hands or feet the entire game.

The Warriors (17-3-3) set up camp in the Rebels’ penalty box, unleashing 12 shots from within the area and another four from outside. Forward Sara Silver-Hill had missed seven second-half shots, Jenna Wirtz had a free kick hit the crossbar in the final minute and Lauren Baer had two shots barely miss.

“I was never worried,” said Quartz Hill Coach Maury Cauchon, whose team was outshot, 25-4. “We always seem to come back in the second half.

“This is a big step for our program. This is the first time we’ve ever got past this round.”

Quartz Hill controlled much of the first 20 minutes, but the Rebels’ momentum dwindled as the half progressed.

Westlake required Rebel goalkeeper Karen Comstock to make five saves in the first half, with the biggest save coming less than a minute before halftime when she blocked a point-blank shot by forward Jenna Ainsworth.

* Coach Emanuel Martins turns Sylmar around. Page 8