CP's Lomeli comes up big in shootout

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PORTAGE -- Crown Point goalkeeper Christian Lomeli will never forget his first Duneland Conference victory and first win via shootout.

With cat-quick moves and nerves of steel, the freshman came up big Wednesday night against Portage despite his short 5-6 stature.

Tied 2-2 after two overtime periods, Lomeli's shot from 12 yards out put CP up 1-0 in the penalty-kick phase, which the Bulldogs dominated 3-1. He also had two huge PK saves.

"I was looking at how they approached the ball," he said of the shootout, "then took an educated guess. This is amazing, our first Duneland win."

First-year CP coach Jeff Fairbairn wasn't surprised by his rookie keeper.

"He's getting his feet wet early and stepped up big for us," he said. "I knew he could do it. His confidence grows with every save. He came up big on PKs.

"This was a great 94-minute match. One of our goals is to finish in the top half of the DAC. This gives us confidence, playing with one of the best."

Fairbairn, Merrillville girls coach the last four years, said his side wanted to rebound from Monday's 2-0 loss to Boone Grove. "We came out flat and maybe took them for granted. Tonight we got down (1-0) but kept our heads in it."

Portage's Brendon Swindle scored first on a one-hop corner kick. Five minutes later CP freshman Dan Naumoski got credit for a goal that went off a Portage defender. Silvestre Lomeli's goal off Jim Steriovski's corner made it 2-1 CP with 9:01 in the half.

Portage (2-2, 0-1 DAC) dominated play in the first half, outshooting CP 13-5. But Lomeli had 10 saves in a battle of rookie keepers. He and Indians freshman Donovan Cole each had a few nifty saves.

Indians coach Todd Strom said Lomeli was "absolutely outstanding. Some unbelievable saves gave them energy. But with 13 shots in the half we've got to put a few in. We've worked on finishing, a problem. The goals will come."

Strom said Cole did "a great job. None of the goals were his fault. He works hard."

Crown Point (2-2, 1-0) worked harder the second half, holding Portage to seven shots then; it kept more defenders back to help control Portage's speed.

Crown Point senior Cardiay Watson had the winning PK goal, going high to Cole's right.

"I'm confident in my PKs," he said. "This is the game we wanted; we'll try and build on this."

Portage went first in the shootout and got a bad omen when Joey Higgins' leadoff blast hit the left post. Christian Lomeli scored and Portage's Swindle tied it at 1-1 on a tipped shot. Up 2-1 Christian Lomeli notched diving saves on two shots between Jake Tasher's goal to end it.