As his teammates were warming up, Christian Lomeli was studying. Most likely, what the junior goalkeeper was studying wouldn’t be needed.
He was studying the tendencies of the Maryland players and would continue studying throughout the Big Ten semifinal match Nov. 13, because Lomeli isn’t the starting goalkeeper for the Hoosiers.
Lomeli is the man the Hoosiers turn to at a match’s last possible stage. When the match went to penalty kicks, IU Coach Todd Yeagley turned to Lomeli to go into the goal, and Lomeli saved three of the six penalties he faced.
“I guess I have a history of PKs in my career,” Lomeli said. “I’ve just been successful with them throughout my years and I’ve just been through it so many times that there wasn’t too much pressure. I knew that if the team had that belief in me and I had that belief in me that things would go well.”
That history of penalty kicks Lomeli references is rich. In his junior year at Crown Point High School, Lomeli made both the final save and the final goal in a penalty shootout in the semifinals of the semi-state tournament.
Later that day, Lomeli did the same thing to earn Crown Point a berth in the state finals. The Bulldogs won in penalty kicks again in the state finals a week later, once again with Lomeli making the final save. Crown Point didn’t score a goal in those final three games, but still won its first state championship in school history.
“We always think about attackers and forwards and strikers taking over and winning games but he can win from the defensive position of goalie,” Lomeli’s high school coach Michael Bazin said. “Pretty remarkable.”
Many people look at a penalty save and think it’s luck. The goalie guessed, dove one way and was able to get a hand on the ball. That’s not true.
Bazin, a former goalkeeper himself, said saving a penalty is 90 percent instincts and 10 percent skill. Instinct doesn’t mean luck. Instinct means understanding why the player might kick the ball to the left or the right. Is he going high or low?
That’s why Lomeli was studying before that Big Ten semifinal match, so when the player puts the ball on the spot, he can trust his instincts. Sometimes, he knows where the player is kicking the ball before he even sets the ball down. Obviously, there is some guessing involved, but Lomeli doesn’t like to think about it like that.
“I like to call it more of an educated guess,” Lomeli said. “You can’t really figure out exactly where they’re going — you just kind of have to be educated with your guess. I just start from the start of the game analyzing their little techniques with the ball, their passing, their striking and every little detail of their style of play.”
When Lomeli faces a penalty, he uses that knowledge he gained from watching the shooting drills before the game and watching how players shoot during the game. All that gives him the foundation for an educated guess. After that foundation is set, he has to build upon it with clues and details he’s picked up while watching the game.
If he gets everything right, he makes the save. If one thing goes wrong, he might dive the wrong way.
As the player sets the ball down on the spot, of course he’s nervous, he said. It’s a penalty shootout, so how couldn’t he be? Once the player has the ball, Lomeli watches how they set up. He watches their eyes and whether they might tip the direction they’re going.
Bazin said looking at a player’s eyes can be problematic. At this level, penalty takers know what goalkeepers look for and might look one way and shoot the other, so not too much stock can be put in that.
Next, Lomeli remembers what he’s learned. Is the player cheeky, as he calls it, or a straightforward player? That might give him a clue as to whether he can trust the eyes. The last thing he looks at is the player's confidence. Is the player composed? Does he look like he wants to be taking this penalty?
Confidence is also the last thing Lomeli thinks about as the player is striking the ball. He thinks about how good he is. He has to have confidence that when he dives the right way he will make the save. Then, when Lomeli does dive the right way and make the save, he’s exhilarated.
“It’s very exciting because you’re pushing your team that much closer to victory,” Lomeli said. “At the end of the day it’s not just about yourself and saving PKs, it’s making your other players feel more comfortable when they’re taking a shot.”
Even with that, Lomeli doesn’t feel pressure, he said. In a situation where he could potentially win or lose the game for his team, Lomeli doesn’t find it difficult to remain calm.
This is because the pressure stands 12 yards away with the player taking the penalty. Where in the run of play only a few goals are expected of field players, in penalties goals are expected with every shot.
“I don’t see any pressure in PKs because you’re not expected to do much and when you do it’s fantastic,” Lomeli said.
The feeling Lomeli gets when he makes a save is what he likes about penalty shootouts. He loves the energy he can give his teammates when he makes a save or the feeling he gets when one of his teammates scores. Every feeling and emotion is enhanced.
Should Yeagley choose to go the same route if IU’s NCAA tournament match Sunday goes to penalty kicks, the Hoosiers will have a goalkeeper with success and who feels no pressure when most players do, even if he doesn’t call himself a penalty kick specialist.
“I never considered myself a PK specialist and even to this day I still don’t,” Lomeli said. “I don’t know if it’s luck, I don’t know if it’s playing my cards right and finding all the right information, but everything falls in place at the time of the PK.”
