SOUTH BEND | Crown Point wasn't at 100 percent on Saturday.
Star Sarah Rivich was nursing an ailing knee injury, didn't start and played less than 20 minutes. Goalie Meghan Morasan was hobbled after a collision and toughened out the last 15 minutes.
But the Bulldogs did enough to squeeze out a 3-2 win over Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in the semistate semifinal at Father Walter Bly Field.
"We really had to struggle (to win this game)," coach Chris Mikrut said.
Crown Point advanced to play South Bend St. Joseph on its home field at 6 p.m. after the Indians beat Hamilton Southeastern 2-1 in overtime in the day's opener.
The Saints (15-5) hoped to set the tone for the game with an early goal.
Lexie Royal broke free and put a shot on Morasan that the sophomore couldn't corral. Katie Potosky was right there for the rebound score on an open net at 3:31.
C.P. (19-3) evened things up at 11:02 with a goal from an unlikely source. Defender Meghan Sulka fired a shot from about 40 yards that took one bounce over Dwenger goalie Kathryn Jenkins and found the nylon.
"You need a little luck every time you come out and play," Mikrut said. "We got a good bounce on that ball. We needed something to get us back in the game and get our confidence up."
Rachel Marczewski took a free kick from just outside the box in the 23rd minute. Freshman Malorie Henderlong took the pass and skipped it into the net to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
Rivich sat out the first 30 minutes with a knee injury. The senior finally got in and made an immediate impact, taking a foul inside the box.
Courtney Farrell promptly put the penalty kick in and the Bulldogs found themselves with a 3-1 lead at 31:20.
"We had to really fight back," Mikrut said. "We put Sarah in and we started looking to get her the ball, not just kicking it, but playing the ball ahead. It's nice to have Sarah for as much time as we can get her."
Haley Haines broke away in the 64th minute and got the Saints within a goal with a rocket past Morasan.
Dwenger got another shot with a free kick from about 30 yards in the 70th minute, but Morasan made the stop.
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