Bulldogs capture first-ever state soccer title

INDIANAPOLIS | Alex Fenn readily admitted it wasn't the prettiest shot, but at the highest echelon of Indiana high school soccer, looks simply didn't matter.

After 94 minutes of scoreless soccer between Crown Point and Columbus North, it was Fenn's game-clinching penalty kick that gave C.P. a 4-2 win in the shootout session and its first chance to hoist state championship hardware in team history.

"A lot of things went through my mind," Fenn said. "I was just thinking ‘I've made this a million times in practice, I could just hit it one more time to win state.' I hit it, but it wasn't as good as I wanted to. It's the best penalty kick in the world right now."

Unheralded and unranked coming into the postseason, not many gave C.P. a chance to succeed. For Fenn, that simply added fuel to the fire.

"A lot of people doubted us and didn't think we'd beat Lake Central (in the Merrillville Regional), but we got through that," Fenn said. "We responded, and we're not a team anymore. We're a family."

In the shootout session, C.P. goalkeeper Christian Lomeli made saves on the first and last penalty kicks taken by Riley Belding and Alex Kaiser. Including both shootout wins in the Warsaw Semistate, C.P. (16-6-2) connected on 14 consecutive penalty kicks.

"I was more confident than the last two games," Lomeli said of making his saves. "I had more of an idea of where they were going and more of an educated guess against them. I went with what I felt and it ended up being right.

"It's unbelievable -- I have no words to describe this."

After a costly foul just outside the goalie box with eight minutes left in the second half, Columbus North's Devon Orben had a chance at a direct kick, but missed about a foot over the goal, squandering what was probably its best opportunity at a goal.

C.P.'s Carmelo Morales had an opportunity to give his team a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half, but his short-range shot was cleared out by Orben.

Columbus North (18-3-2) out-shot C.P. 9-5 in the first half, but Lomeli made four stellar saves for the Bulldogs, including two point-blank shots that could have resulted in goals for Columbus North.

"Columbus North played an incredible game," C.P. coach JR Rosenbaum said. "I thought for long stretches of the game, they actually outplayed us. Our back line was pretty solid and we kept them out.

"I know they had a couple good chances, but for the most part there was nothing that was overly concerning. It was just a big testament to our back line."