Lockport continues roll

Bob Novak was in disbelief.

But the Lockport senior forward's disbelief was because of a good thing, his team's record. The Porters continued their winning ways with a 4-0 blanking of Bolingbrook Wednesday afternoon in a Southwest Suburban Conference crossover.

Novak scored the game's first goal and assisted on another as Lockport (11-1, 6-0) pushed its winning streak to 10 and registered its fifth shutout -- including second straight.

"For us to be 11-1 is unbelievable," Novak said. "I mean, 'Wow, I never thought we'd have that kind of record.' When I was growing up, Lockport soccer was never any good. But this year we have the seniors and we have the experience.

"I've been on the varsity all four years and we've just got better and better. I'm surprised, but in other ways I'm not because everyone has progressed. Now we know we still have three tough conference games left with Sandburg, Joliet and Stagg."

Novak was also in disbelief over something else, his early inability to get the ball into the net. He had four chances in the game's first 11 minutes, all of them on goal. The first bounced right off Bolingbrook junior goalie Brandon Baaske like a pinball.

Then, Novak had a pair of headers sandwiched around a line shot that Baaske made a flying save on. Those three shots came in a span of 2:28. But just over a minute later, Novak wasn't going to be denied.

He took a pass from senior forward Ryan Turner and ran out ahead of the pack down the left side. Novak then ripped a laser that crossed to the right post, banged off and went into the goal to give Lockport a 1-0 lead with 27:51 left in the first half.

"I couldn't get them to go in," said Novak. "But, finally, on the fifth shot, I got it to go in. I had to get that one. I saw Ryan Turner running on the other side, but I thought I could get the shot. It bounced off the post and it worked. That was my seventh goal and I'll take it."

While Novak and the Porters took his goal, Bolingbrook (6-7-2, 2-4) barely took a shot. The Raiders' only shot on goal was by senior forward Mark Harames, who got a touch on a ball after a restart in front. But the attempt was easily saved by Lockport senior goalie Brian Quane with just under 25 minutes to play in the first half.

"We're not using each other well out there right now," said Bolingbrook assistant Matt Kocourek. "We have three freshman on the team and we started two of them. Plus, we are down three starters because two are out with injuries and one is ineligible."

But Kocourek, who spoke because head coach Jamie Clemmons had to leave for the sectional seeding meeting, made it clear that Lockport was the better team. "This is the only team that really beat us and they've done it twice now," said Kocourek, referring to the Porters' 2-0 victory over Bolingbrook in the Lemont Tournament on Sept. 6. "Let me tell you, Bob Novak is the best player I've seen in awhile. He's hungry and he put the ball in. He's just outstanding. He finds the ball and everything goes through him."

Kocourek's assessment was correct as Novak was in the middle of a play that accounted for the Porters second goal. His header was stopped by Baaske, but the ball bounced right back to Lucas Zeiler. The senior midfielder headed it right back in the goal and Lockport led 2-0 with 20:21 to play.

The Porters put the game away as senior forward Ryan Turner had a pair of goals in the final 11:11. Both were from the left side and both were assisted by senior forward Brandon Hodolitz, who had a couple of shots just miss in the first half -- including a header off the crossbar.