Cris Lewis was 12 years old when she remembers telling her mother that one day she would play college soccer—a fact her mother tearfully reminded her of on the night of Sept. 20.
It was that night when, after defeating North Dakota State, 21-year-old Lewis found herself at the top of three of Portland State’s all-time soccer records.
Cris Lewis was 12 years old when she remembers telling her mother that one day she would play college soccer—a fact her mother tearfully reminded her of on the night of Sept. 20.
It was that night when, after defeating North Dakota State, 21-year-old Lewis found herself at the top of three of Portland State’s all-time soccer records.
Her new records of 328 saves, 13 shutouts and 18 wins toppled former record holders Kim Street’s 314 saves and 12 shutouts, and Joel Giger’s 17 wins—marks that have not quite sunk in yet.
Though conscious of her impending career marks heading into the match against North Dakota State, it was coach Laura Schott that broke the news to her. It wasn’t until after the game that Lewis even realized that she became Portland State’s new standard for goalkeepers.
“It wasn’t until after the game when Coach Schott told me, ‘Oh by the way, you broke all three of those records,’ ” said Lewis. “I don’t think it really hit me.”
Later that evening when she talked to her mother over the phone, the gravity of her records had yet to set in. Her mother, it seemed, was more excited about the records than she was.
“My mom was really excited for me. She called and said, ‘I saw what happened on www.goviks.com and was reading the article and I just started crying because I remember the first time I took you to practice.'”
It is ironic that on the night Lewis broke the records that she was the one providing comfort for her mother. It was the other way around when she attended her first soccer practice as a child.
“I remember my mom signed me up and I didn’t want to go. I was really shy when I was little. I said, ‘Mom you can’t take me to this. I’m gonna have to meet new people.’ She drove me to the park and told me, ‘You gotta go now.’ I said, ‘Mom I can’t. I can’t do this.’ And she said, ‘Yes you can. You gotta go.'”
From then on, soccer has been an ever-present force in her life. She says, because she likes to run, she was a forward for the first eight years. However, she found her true passion when she was given the choice of being a field-player on the B-team, or a goalkeeper for the A-team.
To her, the choice was clear.
Learning that the only ticket to the A-team was to play the net, Lewis’ response then was as calm as it was several nights ago when she set her records.
“I said, ‘Sure.’ Anything to be on the A-team,” Lewis recalls.
Since then, she hasn’t looked back to being a forward. “I just loved the position. It’s a lot nicer to use your hands,” she explains.
Since her switch to keeper, Lewis has racked up an impressive number of accolades. At John F. Kennedy High School she was an all-state performer as a senior and a two-time First Team all-league selection.
Since the beginning of her collegiate career, she has seen six Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week awards, garnering at least one per season and back-to-back awards in October of 2007.
How she approaches the pitch mentally has a lot to say about her remarkable consistency. “Soccer’s still fun for me,” Lewis said. And she recognizes the importance of the balance between fun and hard work.
“The main thing is to be balanced,” she says. “You need to have fun, but at the same time you need to work hard. And you have to put that hard work in.”
In a game, she enters into the proverbial zone in which athletes operate best. After the team’s season-opening victory against OSU, she mentioned that once she’s in the game she’s not thinking, but rather reacting to the ball.
“It’s true,” she said. “I thought about it, and in those intense game situations—we have practice to replicate that—but in the game you let your abilities take over. Before I know it, I’m making these saves, kicking the ball out, whatever. By that time I’m just playing.”
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Lewis, though, is her dedication to her teammates and family. When she is playing, her performance is a representation not of herself, but the teammates around her and the school that she plays for.
When asked what she remembers of any of the firsts in her record-breaking categories, it is not an individual moment she remembers but a team moment.
During her freshman season, the team was 0–11 going into conference play. “The first game we won was our first conference game. The feeling of winning after losing 11 was the best feeling in the world,” she said. “And I think that was a shutout game too.”
Her remarks on her favorite moment in soccer are proof of her dedication to her teammates. Given the option to describe any shutout, win or save that she has accumulated, she instead defers to how precious the moments with her team are.
“I feel like every moment, whether it’s at practice, in a game or if we’re just hanging out as a team is a good one—and something that should be cherished,” Lewis said.
However, she says it’s the moment that has yet to come that she looks forward to the most.
“I’m hoping that’s still to come. That Big Sky Championship at the end of the year and going to the NCAA tournament. I’m hoping that’s what it will be,” she said.
