Team preview: Lemont
By Gary Larsen
Lemont has reached the IHSA Class AA state finals in three of the last five seasons and has been a state finalist six times in the last 11 years. It's a standard of high achievement that coach Rick Prangen has fostered in his 25 year-year career.
All this year’s team wants is the chance to take the hammer to the anvil and pound out the seventh state trophy in program history. And the Indians liked what they saw before COVID-19 shut the season down.
“We were together for three weeks or so, and we got a good grasp for how good this team could possibly be,” senior forward Erin Crispo said. “I saw a lot of potential.”
A team that graduated its starting goalkeeper and a stable of top defenders from last year had Prangen in full pondering mode heading into the 2020 season.
Coaches can turn into mad scientists with a new group of players, tinkering gleefully with formations and lineups, and Prangen was excited about the theories he and his coaching staff formed in the lab for this year’s team.
Now if only those theories could be applied.
“I want to see us play one game, just to see if I was right,” Prangen joked.
The odds are an Indians team ranked 20th in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 rankings will field another rock-solid squad should the season begin in May.
For starters, Crispo and fellow forwards Victoria Silvar and Kailey Wasyliw will spearhead an attack that figures to put goals on the board. Crispo, a returning CLS all-state player, had 15 goals and 12 assists last year thanks to an engine that’s stuck in fifth gear.
“When you play against her you’re going to have a long 80 minutes, because she’s just going to run, and run, and run,” Prangen said of Crispo. “She’s unbelievably fit and can go a full 80 minutes with pace. She just wears people down with that effort.”
For all you young soccer players out there, Crispo is happy to reveal a training secret to her high pace on the pitch:
“I never run over three miles,” she said. “I like to do a lot of speed-interval training, going up and down with speeds, and that’s how I’d mix in my speed training. It’s perfect for soccer.”
Crispo, Silvar, and Wasyliw will give the Indians scoring punch as a midfield led by veteran varsity holding mid Adriana Patino finds its footing.
“Adriana is a four-year varsity player and has been our holding mid for two years,” Prangen said. “She’s been to two state finals, and she scored a big goal as a freshman against Hinsdale South that got us to the state finals that year. She has a lot of experience.”
Despite wholesale changes to the backline due to graduation, the Indians have a pair of quality defenders in four-year varsity player Danielle Irwin and junior Rylee Liebing, playing in her first season at Lemont.
“(Liebing) has been playing club, and she’s the real deal,” Prangen said. “She’s a really good player. She has potential to be one of the better players we’ve had in the program, one of those players you build around in the back.”
With Liebing in the center of the defense, Irwin can continue to shine on the outside. Irwin played the midfield her first two seasons at Lemont before shifting to the backline last year.
If Prangen could package and sell Irwin’s chief trait, he’d make millions.
“She’s always been that hard-nosed, feisty player that every team needs to have on it — those players willing to get scrappy for you,” Prangen said. “And she’s always had it. She just gets after it.”
Irwin was sad at first to see her place as an offensive player change but her versatility and fiery spirit have been a natural fit on the defensive side of the ball.
“That’s where you really need that kind of spark, so you’re really securing things for your team,” Irwin said. “It was kind of hard to know my scoring opportunities would be gone, but I knew I had to do it. My coaches were counting on me.”
The rest of the Indians' defense will seek chemistry among a new cast of characters.
“Every time you get a new group of kids, you’re curious about what they’ll be able to do,” Prangen said. “Defensively we’re trying to figure things out, looking for some players who were youngsters last year to step up and play a bigger role.
“We’ll have to work out the midfield and the defense, but I think we’re going to be able to score goals this year.”
Click here to see the Indians team page!
By Gary Larsen
Lemont has reached the IHSA Class AA state finals in three of the last five seasons and has been a state finalist six times in the last 11 years. It's a standard of high achievement that coach Rick Prangen has fostered in his 25 year-year career.
All this year’s team wants is the chance to take the hammer to the anvil and pound out the seventh state trophy in program history. And the Indians liked what they saw before COVID-19 shut the season down.
“We were together for three weeks or so, and we got a good grasp for how good this team could possibly be,” senior forward Erin Crispo said. “I saw a lot of potential.”
A team that graduated its starting goalkeeper and a stable of top defenders from last year had Prangen in full pondering mode heading into the 2020 season.
Coaches can turn into mad scientists with a new group of players, tinkering gleefully with formations and lineups, and Prangen was excited about the theories he and his coaching staff formed in the lab for this year’s team.
Now if only those theories could be applied.
“I want to see us play one game, just to see if I was right,” Prangen joked.
The odds are an Indians team ranked 20th in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 rankings will field another rock-solid squad should the season begin in May.
For starters, Crispo and fellow forwards Victoria Silvar and Kailey Wasyliw will spearhead an attack that figures to put goals on the board. Crispo, a returning CLS all-state player, had 15 goals and 12 assists last year thanks to an engine that’s stuck in fifth gear.
“When you play against her you’re going to have a long 80 minutes, because she’s just going to run, and run, and run,” Prangen said of Crispo. “She’s unbelievably fit and can go a full 80 minutes with pace. She just wears people down with that effort.”
For all you young soccer players out there, Crispo is happy to reveal a training secret to her high pace on the pitch:
“I never run over three miles,” she said. “I like to do a lot of speed-interval training, going up and down with speeds, and that’s how I’d mix in my speed training. It’s perfect for soccer.”
Crispo, Silvar, and Wasyliw will give the Indians scoring punch as a midfield led by veteran varsity holding mid Adriana Patino finds its footing.
“Adriana is a four-year varsity player and has been our holding mid for two years,” Prangen said. “She’s been to two state finals, and she scored a big goal as a freshman against Hinsdale South that got us to the state finals that year. She has a lot of experience.”
Despite wholesale changes to the backline due to graduation, the Indians have a pair of quality defenders in four-year varsity player Danielle Irwin and junior Rylee Liebing, playing in her first season at Lemont.
“(Liebing) has been playing club, and she’s the real deal,” Prangen said. “She’s a really good player. She has potential to be one of the better players we’ve had in the program, one of those players you build around in the back.”
With Liebing in the center of the defense, Irwin can continue to shine on the outside. Irwin played the midfield her first two seasons at Lemont before shifting to the backline last year.
If Prangen could package and sell Irwin’s chief trait, he’d make millions.
“She’s always been that hard-nosed, feisty player that every team needs to have on it — those players willing to get scrappy for you,” Prangen said. “And she’s always had it. She just gets after it.”
Irwin was sad at first to see her place as an offensive player change but her versatility and fiery spirit have been a natural fit on the defensive side of the ball.
“That’s where you really need that kind of spark, so you’re really securing things for your team,” Irwin said. “It was kind of hard to know my scoring opportunities would be gone, but I knew I had to do it. My coaches were counting on me.”
The rest of the Indians' defense will seek chemistry among a new cast of characters.
“Every time you get a new group of kids, you’re curious about what they’ll be able to do,” Prangen said. “Defensively we’re trying to figure things out, looking for some players who were youngsters last year to step up and play a bigger role.
“We’ll have to work out the midfield and the defense, but I think we’re going to be able to score goals this year.”
Click here to see the Indians team page!