Work ethic fuels Crispo's success at Lemont
By Gary Larsen
There's a supreme example of persistence in nature, where water dripping on solid rock over centuries of time can eventually wear that rock down to nothing.
Senior forward Erin Crispo took the same approach during her varsity career at Lemont, using a bottomless gas tank to wear down even the best of defenders, albeit in much less time.
“You can talk about creating shots, but I think about creating runs,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen said. “How many runs do you do a game? How active are you in a game to make yourself dangerous? How much do you make other teams worry about you?
“Erin is just one of our hardest-working kids, and she can run forever. That kind of thing makes for long days for defenders. That kind of engine can be so dangerous in soccer.”
Crispo’s commitment to a tenacious work rate carried her to 37 goals in two varsity seasons.
“I’ve gone up against a lot of defenders who are skilled and have speed,” she said. “But they’re also chasing other players so if you just keep on making those runs, they’ll get tired.”
Crispo was the Indians’ leading point-scorer and earned Chicagoland Soccer All-State honors in 2019 with 15 goals and 12 assists. But she broke onto the varsity scene for Lemont in 2018 as a sophomore, scoring 22 goals with five assists for a team that went 25-2 and placed third at the Class 2A state finals.
Crispo would have been a varsity freshman in 2017 but that season was lost due to a knee injury she suffered playing indoor soccer. She rehabbed her knee and entered her sophomore season at Lemont ready to challenge for playing time in the central midfield, the position she grew up playing.
Instead, she became a varsity forward.
“Prangen and (assistant coach Mark) Tomczak thought it would be better for the team,” Crispo said. “I think forward is where I’m meant to be. I love running, I love making runs to get the ball, I love scoring goals — I love all of it."
Crispo’s running mates up-top in 2018 included then seniors Mairead Ruane and Katie Knutte. Great soccer programs always have seniors showing underclassmen where the bar is set, and Ruane and Knutte helped show Crispo the way. She learned how and when to make runs in a three-striker system.
“Mairead had a lot of composure with the ball, same with Katie, and they both had good foot skills and a strong kick,” Crispo said. “Mairead was a leader for the whole team. She took charge on the field, and we all looked up to her. She set the tone for how hard we played and for our attitude on the field.”
Ruane, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater, had 23 goals and 20 assists, and Knutte had 17 goals and seven assists; Lemont beat Normal West on penalty kicks in the Class AA third place game.
It was in a supersectional game against Notre Dame (Peoria) that year when Crispo had one of her biggest individual career moments. With Lemont up 2-1 and Notre Dame chasing hard for a tying goal, Crispo’s goal at 74 minutes iced the win, sending Lemont to its fifth state finals appearance in nine years.
“I scored on a header on a corner. It wasn’t my best goal, but it was meaningful,” Crispo said. “It was an important goal and winning that game was my favorite moment of Lemont soccer. We drove down two hours to (Notre Dame’s) home field. That whole game was an adrenaline rush.
“Getting downstate was such a great experience, because most people just don’t get to experience that. We got rewarded for all our hard work that season, and it was a great way to honor the effort we all put in that year.”
As the years pass, former high school athletes rely on mental snapshots of the biggest moments of their prep careers. Crispo has a picture in her mind that she'll carry with her long after she leaves Lemont.
It occurred at North Central College during the 2018 state finals, the moment the Indians’ shootout against Normal West ended the third place game.
“We went into penalties. Once we won, we all went into a dogpile; and it was just the
best,” Crispo said. “Michelle Jerantowski was our keeper, and there’s a great picture of all of us jumping on her. I'll always remember that."
Crispo’s 15 goals and 12 assists in her junior year came for a team that went 18-5-1 and reached a sectional title game before its season ended in a 2-1 loss to Joliet Catholic.
Crispo’s game expanded last season thanks to a sharper understanding of positioning, making runs, and how to post up as a center-forward.
“Sophomore year I was just trying to get used to everything, and junior year was when I really felt like I knew what I was doing,” Crispo said.
The proof of that came in games against Andrew, Reavis and Wheaton North last season.
In Lemont’s fourth game of 2019 at the Wheaton North Kickoff Classic, the Indians came from behind to win 2-1 over the host Falcons.
“Erin didn’t score, but she was everywhere in that game,” Prangen said. “And even if you don’t get that goal, those things play a difference because defenses are constantly worried about where you’re at and what you’re doing.”
Three games later, Lemont took on Andrew in a Friday night friendly at home, in a game between two teams that reached the state finals the previous season. Crispo tallied the game’s lone goal in a Lemont victory. She scored on a breakaway.
“She only had that one chance, and she finished it,” Prangen said. “She continued to get better at finishing her chances as time went on.”
But the game that Prangen will most remember Crispo for was the one she had against South Suburban Conference foe Reavis.
“When I wrote my seniors a note for what each of them meant to me, for her I talked about that game against Reavis,” Prangen said. “We were having a bad game and gave up some soft goals. But in the second half, she just took that game over. I think she had four goals. They had no answer for her. That was a game where she really put us on her back.”
The Reavis game typified the blue-collar work ethic that took root early on in Crispo’s soccer life.
“In club I learned that if you didn’t put in the effort you didn’t start, so I already knew I had to put in the effort if I wanted to be a better player,” Crispo said. “Prangen and Tomczak really stress the idea that if you put in 100 percent, you’ll see the results. And that’s very important.
“If you don’t work hard, how can you improve as a player? That’s the difference between people who improve and people who don’t.”
Teammate and fellow senior Danielle Irwin has enjoyed watching Crispo run roughshod in the attacking third throughout their high school careers.
“She has the stamina to keep running for 80 minutes. It’s crazy how long she can actually run,” Irwin said. “But she can do way more than just run, and you can see the passion she has for the game every time she steps on the field. She just gets after it. She’s an amazing player because of the fire she has.”
With her senior season lost to the coronavirus, Crispo now looks ahead to life after Lemont soccer. She’ll major in dietetics at the University of Illinois and may consider playing club soccer, but her days of pulling on a school uniform and roaming the pitch with her friends and classmates are over.
Crispo won’t count out coaching soccer at some level down the road, in large part because of the experience she’s had playing at Lemont.
“I just think the bonding you form and the relationships you form are the biggest thing,” Crispo said. “You’re with your teammates every day practicing, going to games, pasta parties, listening to music in the locker room before a big game — all of it adds to the experience and makes it the best. I’ll really miss all of that.”
By Gary Larsen
There's a supreme example of persistence in nature, where water dripping on solid rock over centuries of time can eventually wear that rock down to nothing.
Senior forward Erin Crispo took the same approach during her varsity career at Lemont, using a bottomless gas tank to wear down even the best of defenders, albeit in much less time.
“You can talk about creating shots, but I think about creating runs,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen said. “How many runs do you do a game? How active are you in a game to make yourself dangerous? How much do you make other teams worry about you?
“Erin is just one of our hardest-working kids, and she can run forever. That kind of thing makes for long days for defenders. That kind of engine can be so dangerous in soccer.”
Crispo’s commitment to a tenacious work rate carried her to 37 goals in two varsity seasons.
“I’ve gone up against a lot of defenders who are skilled and have speed,” she said. “But they’re also chasing other players so if you just keep on making those runs, they’ll get tired.”
Crispo was the Indians’ leading point-scorer and earned Chicagoland Soccer All-State honors in 2019 with 15 goals and 12 assists. But she broke onto the varsity scene for Lemont in 2018 as a sophomore, scoring 22 goals with five assists for a team that went 25-2 and placed third at the Class 2A state finals.
Crispo would have been a varsity freshman in 2017 but that season was lost due to a knee injury she suffered playing indoor soccer. She rehabbed her knee and entered her sophomore season at Lemont ready to challenge for playing time in the central midfield, the position she grew up playing.
Instead, she became a varsity forward.
“Prangen and (assistant coach Mark) Tomczak thought it would be better for the team,” Crispo said. “I think forward is where I’m meant to be. I love running, I love making runs to get the ball, I love scoring goals — I love all of it."
Crispo’s running mates up-top in 2018 included then seniors Mairead Ruane and Katie Knutte. Great soccer programs always have seniors showing underclassmen where the bar is set, and Ruane and Knutte helped show Crispo the way. She learned how and when to make runs in a three-striker system.
“Mairead had a lot of composure with the ball, same with Katie, and they both had good foot skills and a strong kick,” Crispo said. “Mairead was a leader for the whole team. She took charge on the field, and we all looked up to her. She set the tone for how hard we played and for our attitude on the field.”
Ruane, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater, had 23 goals and 20 assists, and Knutte had 17 goals and seven assists; Lemont beat Normal West on penalty kicks in the Class AA third place game.
It was in a supersectional game against Notre Dame (Peoria) that year when Crispo had one of her biggest individual career moments. With Lemont up 2-1 and Notre Dame chasing hard for a tying goal, Crispo’s goal at 74 minutes iced the win, sending Lemont to its fifth state finals appearance in nine years.
“I scored on a header on a corner. It wasn’t my best goal, but it was meaningful,” Crispo said. “It was an important goal and winning that game was my favorite moment of Lemont soccer. We drove down two hours to (Notre Dame’s) home field. That whole game was an adrenaline rush.
“Getting downstate was such a great experience, because most people just don’t get to experience that. We got rewarded for all our hard work that season, and it was a great way to honor the effort we all put in that year.”
As the years pass, former high school athletes rely on mental snapshots of the biggest moments of their prep careers. Crispo has a picture in her mind that she'll carry with her long after she leaves Lemont.
It occurred at North Central College during the 2018 state finals, the moment the Indians’ shootout against Normal West ended the third place game.
“We went into penalties. Once we won, we all went into a dogpile; and it was just the
best,” Crispo said. “Michelle Jerantowski was our keeper, and there’s a great picture of all of us jumping on her. I'll always remember that."
Crispo’s 15 goals and 12 assists in her junior year came for a team that went 18-5-1 and reached a sectional title game before its season ended in a 2-1 loss to Joliet Catholic.
Crispo’s game expanded last season thanks to a sharper understanding of positioning, making runs, and how to post up as a center-forward.
“Sophomore year I was just trying to get used to everything, and junior year was when I really felt like I knew what I was doing,” Crispo said.
The proof of that came in games against Andrew, Reavis and Wheaton North last season.
In Lemont’s fourth game of 2019 at the Wheaton North Kickoff Classic, the Indians came from behind to win 2-1 over the host Falcons.
“Erin didn’t score, but she was everywhere in that game,” Prangen said. “And even if you don’t get that goal, those things play a difference because defenses are constantly worried about where you’re at and what you’re doing.”
Three games later, Lemont took on Andrew in a Friday night friendly at home, in a game between two teams that reached the state finals the previous season. Crispo tallied the game’s lone goal in a Lemont victory. She scored on a breakaway.
“She only had that one chance, and she finished it,” Prangen said. “She continued to get better at finishing her chances as time went on.”
But the game that Prangen will most remember Crispo for was the one she had against South Suburban Conference foe Reavis.
“When I wrote my seniors a note for what each of them meant to me, for her I talked about that game against Reavis,” Prangen said. “We were having a bad game and gave up some soft goals. But in the second half, she just took that game over. I think she had four goals. They had no answer for her. That was a game where she really put us on her back.”
The Reavis game typified the blue-collar work ethic that took root early on in Crispo’s soccer life.
“In club I learned that if you didn’t put in the effort you didn’t start, so I already knew I had to put in the effort if I wanted to be a better player,” Crispo said. “Prangen and Tomczak really stress the idea that if you put in 100 percent, you’ll see the results. And that’s very important.
“If you don’t work hard, how can you improve as a player? That’s the difference between people who improve and people who don’t.”
Teammate and fellow senior Danielle Irwin has enjoyed watching Crispo run roughshod in the attacking third throughout their high school careers.
“She has the stamina to keep running for 80 minutes. It’s crazy how long she can actually run,” Irwin said. “But she can do way more than just run, and you can see the passion she has for the game every time she steps on the field. She just gets after it. She’s an amazing player because of the fire she has.”
With her senior season lost to the coronavirus, Crispo now looks ahead to life after Lemont soccer. She’ll major in dietetics at the University of Illinois and may consider playing club soccer, but her days of pulling on a school uniform and roaming the pitch with her friends and classmates are over.
Crispo won’t count out coaching soccer at some level down the road, in large part because of the experience she’s had playing at Lemont.
“I just think the bonding you form and the relationships you form are the biggest thing,” Crispo said. “You’re with your teammates every day practicing, going to games, pasta parties, listening to music in the locker room before a big game — all of it adds to the experience and makes it the best. I’ll really miss all of that.”