Positions change,
fire doesn't for Lemont's Irwin
By Gary Larsen
One year ago, Danielle Irwin stood on one half of a practice field with a group of Lemont’s defenders, eyeing the activity on the other half of the field, where attacking players were working and practicing to fine-tune the Indians’ offense.
The scene didn’t sit well with her.
“I’d see our midfielders and forwards working on something, and I’d get a little jealous,” Irwin said, “because I loved that position.”
"That position" was midfield, where Irwin roamed during her freshman and sophomore years for coach Rick Prangen, and where she played while helping Lemont reach the state finals in 2017 and 2018.
But when the first practices of her junior year began, Prangen had a surprise for Irwin.
“He started randomly putting me on defense, and I was like ‘Wait, what is this?’,” Irwin said. “Then him and (assistant coach Mark) Tomczak pulled me aside and said they see me in this position, because they couldn’t see anyone else on the team doing what they need at that position.”
Coaches converting players to new positions is nothing new. It happens every year on high school teams all over Illinois based on team need and personnel changes from season to season.
When Irwin moved from midfield to the backline last year, so began the story of one seriously fiery 5-foot-3 defender at Lemont. The one on the outside with the proverbial chip on her shoulder; the one whose nice-as-pie personality off the field transforms once she puts on her cleats. Those traits and her performance led to a spot on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List after last season.
Irwin has never had a problem finding a shovelful of coal to toss into the blast furnace of her motivation.
“It’s crazy to see, and we laugh about it,” teammate Adriana Patino said. “When we’re warming up she gets into this game-mode and switches it on. You can see the fire in her eyes, and she just becomes that determined player. Then after the game she’s all smiles, and it’s back to her normal, nice personality.
“She’s probably the shortest girl on the team but I’ve never seen someone so motivated. She’s the most strong-headed, feisty girl on the field.”
Irwin’s competitive spirit has always been there, along with a refusal to back down on the field, no matter what.
“If you mess with her,” teammate Erin Crispo said, “you’ll get it on the field.”
Irwin has never allowed her height to hinder her when going hard into a tackle against bigger, stronger players. “Honestly,” she said, “sometimes I think I’m 5-foot-10.”
Her competitive spirit is the first thing Prangen mentions when asked about Irwin, and one of the chief reasons he converted her to the backline. Irwin’s composure and ability to both attack and defend as an outside midfielder made her the obvious choice to fill the Indians’ need in back at the beginning of last season.
“You want that kid willing to say ‘I’m going to take you on, and you’re not going to beat me today’,” Prangen said. “She has that. She’s a fierce player. She doesn’t take anything from anybody. She takes things personally, and she’s just a competitive player.”
At first, Irwin was less than thrilled with the conversion from attacking outside mid to the less glamorous role of an outside defender. After all, if the FBI witness relocation program truly wanted to hide a person, they might consider making her an outside defender on a high school soccer team.
The spotlight simply doesn’t often shine on the thankless but vital chores of a defender the way it does on scorers, a truism in every sport. For Irwin, that reality took a little getting used to.
“I loved being a part of the offense,” Irwin said. “The celebration, teammates hugging you — maybe that sounds a little selfish, but there’s nothing like it. But by the end of last year I couldn’t see myself in another position, because I’d really developed a love for playing defense.”
Irwin learned to embrace the gauntlet Prangen had tossed at her feet, happily finding ways to apply her hard-nosed nature in matchups against opposing forwards. Irwin and backline mates Sophia Villareal, Trinity Hatton and Anna Borzecki gelled in front of keeper Grace Kucharski during a 20-5-1 season that featured 20 shutouts in 2019.
It was the seventh game of the season, a 1-0 win over Andrew, when Irwin first felt fully comfortable as a member of Lemont’s back four.
“Andrew was favored to beat us,” Irwin said. “But we scored first, and the defenders gathered together and said ‘We can’t lose this lead’. We really found our spark in that game, and that really helped us the rest of the season.”
Prangen still sent Irwin forward on corner kicks, and the handful of goals she scored allowed her a small nostalgic taste of her past role at Lemont. But Irwin never looked back and never complained.
“Even if it bothered her at times, she never gave us any indication of that,” Prangen said. “She never gave anything but a 100 percent effort. Those kinds of selfless acts are really important to a team and a large part of our success last year was due to her being willing to do what she did.”
Of course, old habits die hard. Irwin’s attacking DNA sometimes had her getting too involved in the attack, leaving the back line a tad too frequently for her coach’s taste.
“I love doing that, and Prangen would get mad at me, because I was doing it too much,” Irwin said. “I’d go up a lot. But I’m better about that now.”
Should the season resume in May, Irwin sees high promise for Lemont to make another run at a downstate trophy. But whatever happens, she feels lucky to have been a part of Prangen’s program.
Prangen has been happy to coach her, and not only because Irwin’s love of team exceeded her desire for personal glory.
“Not every player is willing to do what she did for us,” he said, “but what I think of most when I think of her is what a big-game player she’s been. She has never had a poor game in a big game for us, whether it was a sectional, supersectional, or state playoff game.
“She truly loved those moments and embraced those big games. So if I was giving senior awards out today, I’d be talking about her consistency. And that’s really the mark of a great player.”
fire doesn't for Lemont's Irwin
By Gary Larsen
One year ago, Danielle Irwin stood on one half of a practice field with a group of Lemont’s defenders, eyeing the activity on the other half of the field, where attacking players were working and practicing to fine-tune the Indians’ offense.
The scene didn’t sit well with her.
“I’d see our midfielders and forwards working on something, and I’d get a little jealous,” Irwin said, “because I loved that position.”
"That position" was midfield, where Irwin roamed during her freshman and sophomore years for coach Rick Prangen, and where she played while helping Lemont reach the state finals in 2017 and 2018.
But when the first practices of her junior year began, Prangen had a surprise for Irwin.
“He started randomly putting me on defense, and I was like ‘Wait, what is this?’,” Irwin said. “Then him and (assistant coach Mark) Tomczak pulled me aside and said they see me in this position, because they couldn’t see anyone else on the team doing what they need at that position.”
Coaches converting players to new positions is nothing new. It happens every year on high school teams all over Illinois based on team need and personnel changes from season to season.
When Irwin moved from midfield to the backline last year, so began the story of one seriously fiery 5-foot-3 defender at Lemont. The one on the outside with the proverbial chip on her shoulder; the one whose nice-as-pie personality off the field transforms once she puts on her cleats. Those traits and her performance led to a spot on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List after last season.
Irwin has never had a problem finding a shovelful of coal to toss into the blast furnace of her motivation.
“It’s crazy to see, and we laugh about it,” teammate Adriana Patino said. “When we’re warming up she gets into this game-mode and switches it on. You can see the fire in her eyes, and she just becomes that determined player. Then after the game she’s all smiles, and it’s back to her normal, nice personality.
“She’s probably the shortest girl on the team but I’ve never seen someone so motivated. She’s the most strong-headed, feisty girl on the field.”
Irwin’s competitive spirit has always been there, along with a refusal to back down on the field, no matter what.
“If you mess with her,” teammate Erin Crispo said, “you’ll get it on the field.”
Irwin has never allowed her height to hinder her when going hard into a tackle against bigger, stronger players. “Honestly,” she said, “sometimes I think I’m 5-foot-10.”
Her competitive spirit is the first thing Prangen mentions when asked about Irwin, and one of the chief reasons he converted her to the backline. Irwin’s composure and ability to both attack and defend as an outside midfielder made her the obvious choice to fill the Indians’ need in back at the beginning of last season.
“You want that kid willing to say ‘I’m going to take you on, and you’re not going to beat me today’,” Prangen said. “She has that. She’s a fierce player. She doesn’t take anything from anybody. She takes things personally, and she’s just a competitive player.”
At first, Irwin was less than thrilled with the conversion from attacking outside mid to the less glamorous role of an outside defender. After all, if the FBI witness relocation program truly wanted to hide a person, they might consider making her an outside defender on a high school soccer team.
The spotlight simply doesn’t often shine on the thankless but vital chores of a defender the way it does on scorers, a truism in every sport. For Irwin, that reality took a little getting used to.
“I loved being a part of the offense,” Irwin said. “The celebration, teammates hugging you — maybe that sounds a little selfish, but there’s nothing like it. But by the end of last year I couldn’t see myself in another position, because I’d really developed a love for playing defense.”
Irwin learned to embrace the gauntlet Prangen had tossed at her feet, happily finding ways to apply her hard-nosed nature in matchups against opposing forwards. Irwin and backline mates Sophia Villareal, Trinity Hatton and Anna Borzecki gelled in front of keeper Grace Kucharski during a 20-5-1 season that featured 20 shutouts in 2019.
It was the seventh game of the season, a 1-0 win over Andrew, when Irwin first felt fully comfortable as a member of Lemont’s back four.
“Andrew was favored to beat us,” Irwin said. “But we scored first, and the defenders gathered together and said ‘We can’t lose this lead’. We really found our spark in that game, and that really helped us the rest of the season.”
Prangen still sent Irwin forward on corner kicks, and the handful of goals she scored allowed her a small nostalgic taste of her past role at Lemont. But Irwin never looked back and never complained.
“Even if it bothered her at times, she never gave us any indication of that,” Prangen said. “She never gave anything but a 100 percent effort. Those kinds of selfless acts are really important to a team and a large part of our success last year was due to her being willing to do what she did.”
Of course, old habits die hard. Irwin’s attacking DNA sometimes had her getting too involved in the attack, leaving the back line a tad too frequently for her coach’s taste.
“I love doing that, and Prangen would get mad at me, because I was doing it too much,” Irwin said. “I’d go up a lot. But I’m better about that now.”
Should the season resume in May, Irwin sees high promise for Lemont to make another run at a downstate trophy. But whatever happens, she feels lucky to have been a part of Prangen’s program.
Prangen has been happy to coach her, and not only because Irwin’s love of team exceeded her desire for personal glory.
“Not every player is willing to do what she did for us,” he said, “but what I think of most when I think of her is what a big-game player she’s been. She has never had a poor game in a big game for us, whether it was a sectional, supersectional, or state playoff game.
“She truly loved those moments and embraced those big games. So if I was giving senior awards out today, I’d be talking about her consistency. And that’s really the mark of a great player.”