Bulldogs coming on strong

Updated: October 19, 2011 10:01PM

Things could have gone a couple of different ways after a 5-1 loss to Andrean on Sept. 24 in Crown Point’s second-to-last regular-season game.

The Bulldogs could have packed it in. After most in the area figured they would emerge this season as one of the top teams, they could have given up and simply claim things didn’t work out as well as they could have.

Or they could have said enough is enough. They could have told themselves they were better than that lackadaisical effort they gave against Andrean and worked to do something to reverse their fortunes.

Now playing in the Class 2A northern semistate Saturday in Warsaw, Crown Point clearly chose the latter.

“That Andrean game was one where the guys showed up and just didn’t play, and we got embarrassed,” Crown Point coach JR Rosenbaum said. “It clicked in our heads that no one is going to roll over just because they know what kind of talent we have. They were going to make us work for it.”

So the Bulldogs decided to go to work.

“Yeah, for as long as I’ve been at Crown Point playing soccer, that was the biggest defeat I’ve been involved in,” junior Zach Sneiderwine said. “It felt (terrible). I didn’t like the feeling one bit. We knew at that point we needed to turn it around.”

Crown Point was supposed to be the team that dethroned Lake Central, the defending state champion. That didn’t happen during the regular season. Wins were followed by losses. Momentum was hard to come by.

It didn’t help that junior midfielder Nico Garcia-Vicente suffered an injury and was lost for the season.

“Nico is an excellent player,” senior defender Dan Naumoski said. “He helped us out a lot. I hope he can come back and play just as well next year to help out the team.”

But, still, finding a way to play together, with a ton of talent on the field, was difficult.

“Our coaches told us we argued too much,” Sneiderwine said.

The Bulldogs apparently remedied their ills. They rolled early in the postseason and captured their first sectional title since 1995. They went into the Merrillville Regional as underdogs, but knocked off Lake Central 2-1 in an Oct. 13 semifinal. Crown Point then beat Munster in penalty kicks to win the regional championship, its first.

The Bulldogs lost to both Lake Central and Munster in the regular season.

“We’re putting it together at the right time of the season,” Rosenbaum said. “This is where they wanted to be. But it’s new territory for Crown Point. There’s a lot of excitement in the community with both the boys and girls playing in the semistate. But it’s just a constant reminder that we’re here to play soccer. Enjoy the ride, but at the end of the day, if you don’t come out and play, it will be the end of the season.”

The Bulldogs know that firsthand.

“Nobody thought we would make it this far,” Naumoski said. “We proved them wrong and won the regional. Hopefully we’ll prove them wrong again and win state.”

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