Quartz Hill’s Cox Has Impact on Another Field

QUARTZ HILL â€”  In an oddly-phrased request to get his Valencia High girls’ soccer team to play man-to-man defense Wednesday, Coach Dudley Hitchman frequently bellowed “Basketball! Bas-ket-ball!â€� from the sidelines.

In the end, however, Hitchman and the Vikings were upended in the Southern Section Division I wild-card game by an opponent best known for her softball savvy.

Quartz Hill’s Jodie Cox, a junior and two-time member of The Times’ All-Valley softball team, had a goal and two assists to lift the Rebels to a 3-2 victory and a berth in the first round Saturday against Crescenta Valley.

Playing stopper, Cox’s heroics made up for a gaffe she committed midway through the second half and allowed Valencia (17-9-1) a goal and a 2-1 lead.

In response, she knocked in a 40-yard free kick four minutes later to tie the game, then assisted on Julie Gold’s winner with six minutes to play.

Quartz Hill (16-4-2), the Golden League champion, took a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the game when Cox’s 30-yard free kick found teammate Shauna Murray cutting across the penalty area. Moving right, Murray knocked the ball back left and into the goal.

The Vikings forged a 1-1 halftime tie six minutes before the break when Quartz Hill goalkeeper Christa Galier attempted to punch away a 25-yard flip throw by Devin McLean but knocked the ball into the goal.

In the 65th minute, Cox raced back to the edge of the Rebel penalty area to clear a bouncing ball but missed completely and fell.

Valencia’s Heather Zubis pounced on the turnover and was hauled down in the box by Shannon Alleman, resulting in a penalty shot that Viking goalkeeper Kori Volkmann converted after trotting the length of the field.

“After that I knew I had to do something both for myself and the team,� Cox said.

In the 69th minute, Cox lined up a 40-yard free kick. Designated “indirect� by the referee, it had to touch another player after Cox before it could enter the net and count as a goal.

That player, the referee ruled, was Volkmann, who made a futile backward dive as the ball dropped over her and into the net. The Vikings protested that Volkmann never touched the ball.

“I think the ref robbed us,� Zubis said.

In any case, Quartz Hill had regained its first-half momentum. In the 74th minute, Gold received a long pass from Cox down the center of the field and scored the deciding goal from 10 yards.

In other girls’ Southern Section wild-card games:

Thousand Oaks 5, Highland 1--Susan Shivokevich scored twice to help the host Lancers (12-7-2) advance to face No. 2 seed Peninsula (22-1-4) in a Division I first-round game Saturday.

Canyon 2, Moorpark 0--Gentry Green scored in the 63rd and 65th minutes, boosting the Cowboys (9-4-6) into a first-round game Saturday against Mater Dei, the No. 4 seed in Division II.

Bishop Union 4, Village Christian 1--Tracy Sayers had her 30th goal for Village Christian (6-13-1) in the Division IV game.

In a boys’ wild-card game:

Simi Valley 1, Santa Maria 0--Chris Harris scored 11 minutes into overtime for the host Pioneers (15-7-2), advancing them to a first-round game Friday at Loyola, the No. 3 seed in Division I.