Crown Point 2, Lake Cenral 1, Lake Central Girls Soccer Sectional Semifinal

Crown Point Girls beat Lake Central in Soccer Sectional Semifinal, 2-1

Thursday, October 15, 2009 - 43 degrees, light rain, Lake Central Sectional Semifinal in St. John

Scoring Summary:
1st Half: CP (1-0) Beth Rothrock (Amy Adams) 1:30
2nd Half: LC (1-1) Emily Peppin (Ashley Doreski) 65:52
CP (2-1) Samantha Vercellno (Beth Rothrock) 74:20

GOAL KEEPERS - Kelsey Shoemaker (CP), Brooke Polus (LC)

LAKE CENTRAL SECTIONAL
Quarterfinals
LAKE CENTRAL 9, HANOVER CENTRAL 0
CROWN POINT 3, ANDREAN 0
Hobart 3, LOWELL 0
Griffith 5, MERRILLVILLE 0
Semifinals
CROWN POIINT 2, LAKE CENTRAL 1
Hobart 4, Griffith 3 (OT)
Championship
CROWN POINT (14-4) vs. Hobart (16-1-1) 11:00 a.m.

Liz Henderson stays with LC's Samantha Miksich (23) in the second half of Thursday's LC-CP sectional playoff game. (Photos by Mark Smith)

With coach Chris Mikrut looking on and the clock running down, Missy Phillips (13) looks to throw the ball in and help the Lady Bulldogs run out the clock.

Beth Rothrock and Sammy Vercellino (in the letter jacket) talk about their game-winning goal with happy teammates....late Thursday night.

CP girls run across the field to thank the crowd for sitting through the rain and cheering them on to a 2-1 win over rival Lake Central.

ST. JOHN (10-15-2009) I thought Crown Point was going to lose to Lake Central again. Everybody did. You could see it in their eyes. The Bulldogs who lost in overtime at the Lake Central girls soccer sectional in 2007 and then lost a one-goal lead in the final 20 minutes at the LC Sectional in 2008. So when Ashley Doreski scored on a header off a crossing pass from Emily Peppin with 14:08 to play to tie Thursday 2009 Lake Central sectional semifinal 1-1, it just felt like LC was going to take Crown Point's victory away from them again.

"I thought we were done," admitted coach Chris Mikrut, as the small, wet and noisy crowd roared in anticipation of a late decision.

"Every year, we'd lost to them during the regular season and again in the playoffs. It's always a rain (rainy day) game. And it's always a one goal game. When they scored, we had lost a lot of energy. And then, all of a sudden, we had the ball back."

"This is amazing," said CP defender Missy Phillips, a three-year starter. "My senior year and we're getting a chance to win the sectional. When they tied it 1-1, I looked at the clock and it was 14 minutes. The exact time when they took the lead on us last year. I just thought 'This is not going to work out well.'"

But it did. Crown Point junior Beth Rothrock, with the clock running down, chased the ball up the grandstand side at the Lake Central soccer field along side US 41, and sliced a high crossing pass in front of LC goalkeeper Brooke Polus, and seemingly, across the face of the goal. Running parallel to the goal line from the opposite side of the field, CP senior scoring leader Samantha Vercellino head bumped the ball just inside the post to score the go-ahead goal with 5:40 to play.

After a frantic final few (excuse the expression) flurries in the increasingly cold, winter style rain, Crown Point had scored their second consecutive victory over their rival and neighbor and advanced to the sectional championship, where they will face Hobart (16-1-1), a 4-3 come from behind winner over Griffith (15-2-1) in the last Thursday semifinal.

Lake Central (12-6-1) got the best of the play through most of the first half after Amy Adams' crossing pass to Rothrock had created a key CP goal in the first 90 seconds of the game while some semblance of daylight and a reasonably dry field remained.

The next 65 minutes were a skating match of players trying to stay upright on the very slick surface and avoid a mistake while the offenses led by Vercellino of CP and Doreski of LC, pushed to score the next goal.

Finally, the elder Doreski (younger sister Lauren is a freshman) took the ball to the goal line on the left wing and chipped a pass back into the penalty box where Emily Peppin popped in a soft, high arching header to tie the game with 14:08 to play.

"That's the same time they took the lead on us last year," said Rothrock, who made the game winning pass to Vercellino through the rain and artificial light. It did not seem possible that Rothrock saw Vercellino on the other side of the field.

"I saw her," Rothrock said. "I saw her the whole time. I knew she'd be there, but yes, I saw her."

The surprising aspect of the winning play is that anybody could play in the weather conditions.

"I prefer the warm and dry conditions," Beth admitted. "You can't really forget about the rain and the field."

Soccer forwards have to trust each other to 'deliver' the ball. If everybody tries to make a play themselves, you'd never score against good teams.

"I knew she'd get me the ball," Vercellino said after the game. "So I'm just saying run to the post. Run to the post. I just knew my girl would get me the ball."

Mikrut knows that the leading scorer draws the most defensive attention and he didn't want Vercellino, who has scored five goals in a game twice this year, to get frustrated.

"The one thing I was telling Sammy was, 'You're only going to get one chance," the coach said. "You have to take advantage. You can't miss. But I was surprised at how calm the girls were before the game. They were relaxed. Sarah Rivich, our freshman sweeper; she was able to hold (Ashley) Doreski down with the help of Danielle Harnois. The only chance she got. They put it in the back of the net."

"But it was a really great effort by all of our girls. The kids played a lot of minutes total. All the goals were great. Three header goals. I'm as relaxed as I've been. We play as a team. I think we're ready."

The loss ended the rookie coaching season of Lake Central's Lori Moore-Smith, who is LC and Valparaiso University's all-time leading scorer. LC was a three-time defending regional champion and now the 'door' is open for Crown Point to get that regional crown.

"This isn't an upset," he said to them in the rain. "You beat them before. You were supposed to win."

"We beat Lake Central in the regular season," Phillips agreed. "We actually lost to Hobart and Griffith. But things can change."

DOG NOTES: Crown Point will play three games in five days and, if they win the sectional title, four games in 10 days, including the Munster Regional next Wednesday, Oct. 21. If the Bulldogs reach the Oct. 24 semistate, which is to be played at Crown Point, they could play six games in 13 days.

The IHSAA girls soccer schedule is totally unrealistic for students playing outdoors in late fall weather.

"We had a stretch where we played five times in eight days," said Mikrut. "So you prepare for this."

For a game played in miserable conditions (it never totally stopped raining and the playing field was very slick), the Lake Central-Crown Point semifinal was well-played. Crown Point's Missy Phillips said that the conditions you must play under during night games in October are an issue.

"It's been like this every year," she said Thursday. "I have enough balance issues as it is, but the rain does not usually help me. You don't really ever forget the conditions."

"I really don't like the rain," said Vercellino, who scored three goals in the first two playoff games. It's harder to play."

Team	1	2	F
CROWN POINT (14-4)	1	1	2
LAKE CENTRAL (12-6-1)	0	1	1