Leading from the box

If you’ve ever attended a Portland State women’s soccer game, you know it is hard to miss junior goalkeeper Cris Lewis. She’s the one in the goalie box, screaming her head off for most of the 90-minute match.

Lewis, who hails from the Seattle area, sees it as one of her duties as the starting goalkeeper to get her team fired up for competition. She leads not only vocally, but also by example.

“From the moment she came to campus, Cris has been a leader,” Vikings head coach Laura Schott said. “She is not a fair-weather player. She works hard all the time, even when no one else is watching.”

The hard work has paid off for Lewis, as evidenced by her increased role on the team over her three-year career.

She started 11 games during her freshman season, 16 in last year’s campaign, and hopes to start in all 19 of this year’s regular season matches.

With the increase in playing time, Lewis is also poised to put up some impressive individual numbers this year, and for her Portland State career.

The 70 saves that Lewis has already collected during the Vikings 11 games thus far this season bring her Portland State career total to 215. That number places her second all-time in the school record books and, if she continues to play well during her window of eligibility, well within reach of the Portland State record of 314. Kim Street, who controlled the goalie box at Portland State from 1996-98, holds that record. But for Lewis, stuffing the statistics book has never been the motivation she relies on.

“It’s nice to see your name in print, I guess,” she said. “But I don’t really pay attention to that kind of thing. I play for the game itself, not for the numbers.”

There was, however, one statistic Lewis earned this year that she could not help but be excited about: her first career assist.

The play represented the Vikings only goal in a 1-1 draw against Hawaii on September 26, and occurred in the waning moments of the first half.

From the goalie box, Lewis sent a soaring ball over the heads of the Hawaii defense directly to streaking freshman midfielder Kala Renard, who put the ball in the back of the net. Freshman midfielder Esty Geiger also aided the play, but it was Lewis who could claim the goal as an especially unique experience.

“I pride myself on my strength as a distributor, but that was definitely a first,” Lewis said.

As a physical activity and exercise major, Lewis translates much of what she has learned in the classroom onto the field.

After her Viking career comes to an end following next season, she hopes to continue playing soccer professionally, either in the United States or overseas, before eventually becoming a coach of the sport she loves.

“Soccer has always been a huge part of my life, so I’d like to be involved in it some way or another,” Lewis said.

With a record of 1-8-2 heading into this weekend’s matchup against Fresno State (3-7-0), the Vikings have not been as successful as they would have liked this season.

But as a third-year veteran in the South Park Blocks and one of the team’s leaders, Lewis believes the Vikings can turn around their disappointing play and improve during the Big Sky Conference season.

“The season has been a challenge so far, but I think our play against conference teams will be a product of everything we’ve learned up to this point,” Lewis said. “We’re a resilient group. The Big Sky is always tough, but we’re definitely ready.”