Until he was 16 years old, Alex Crognale wasn't surprised to see his name on a goal sheet. The former Gahanna standout played forward for most of his formative years before a Crew SC Academy coach approached him during tryouts and told him he should consider changing positions.
Since then, Crognale has been pivotal in preventing goals, not scoring them.
“They were like, ‘I think you should switch to center back, I think you would be better suited there,' ” Crognale said. “I just wanted to get on the team and do everything I could. And that’s what they saw in me, so I just ran with it and ended up loving the position.