Owen Hallas had no doubt the ball went in the goal, with his shot squeezing inside the near post and exiting the net through a hole.
But given the way much of Chesterton’s 2-0 Duneland Athletic Conference road win against Crown Point had gone, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the senior forward’s shot had somehow managed to go wide.
It didn’t, and he added a goal less than two minutes later, his second in Wednesday night’s final eight minutes. The Class 2A No. 12 Trojans (6-1-1, 4-0) had largely carried play, but couldn’t solve Sam Surufka and the Bulldogs (2-3-1, 2-2) until that late point.
Hallas believed Chesterton would eventually break through as it continued to apply pressure.
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“It wasn’t so much concern as it was getting us fired up,” he said. “We knew we had the chances. We possessed the ball in their half, we had good shots. We kept confident because we have so much confidence in our defense.”
Crown Point didn’t register its first shot on goal until less than 15 minutes remained in the game.
Hallas gave Chesterton a 1-0 lead a little more than seven minutes later. He streaked down the left side, racing past defenders and burying the shot.
“I saw the defense pinching in a little bit, so I just tried to take it down and cut in so I could get a good angle,” he said. “They hesitated a step and I shot.”
Chesterton coach James Sensibaugh initially wasn’t sure about the goal until he saw his team celebrating.
“I thought it might’ve gone around myself, but they acted like it went in,” he said. “They were right there. It was a goofy thing because there must be a hole in the net.”
Hallas scored again to make it 2-0 on a nice pass from Harley Lohmeyer.
“We did a better job playing with our back to the goal, playing the ball back into the midfield and then going forward,” Sensibaugh said. “We used our flank a little more, and you saw that on our second goal.
“Crown Point played hard. They challenged us. We were getting those shots, but they weren’t going in, so they made it a game.”
Crown Point senior goalkeeper Surufka had a lot to do with it, playing an excellent game with 12 saves. The converted field player took over in goal earlier this season after an injury to the Bulldogs’ starter.
“Great,” Crown Point coach Mike Bazin said of Surufka’s play. “I’m happy for him. Every game he’s been in net, he’s gotten better. The things he has to work on — he’s a field player.”
Chesterton’s win sets up a potential showdown next Wednesday with Class 2A No. 3 Lake Central (8-1-1, 3-0) for sole possession of first place in the DAC. The Indians play at LaPorte on Saturday.
“He (Hallas) has a job and he has to do it,” Sensibaugh said. “When you’re a senior and you’re in that position, you hope big players show up for big games and this was a big game. We wanted to make next Wednesday a big game, which it’s going to be if we’re both undefeated in the conference.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff