Steffen, Trapp called to national camp
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen and midfielder Wil Trapp of Crew SC have been selected for the U.S. men’s national team’s January Camp, U.S. Soccer announced Monday.
The 30-player camp roster — with 28 players from Major League Soccer — will report Wednesday to the National Training Center in Carson, California. The camp leads up to an exhibition on Jan. 28 against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the StubHub Center in Carson.
Trapp, who recently completed his first season as Crew captain, has been called into January camp before but last made an appearance for the national team on Feb. 5, 2016, in a 1-0 exhibition win over Canada. Trapp, 24, of Gahanna, also participated in Olympic qualifying and made 15 appearances for the Under-20 national team.
Steffen has been in the U.S. national team program since the U-14 level but is being called into senior team camp for the first time. The 22-year-old Pennsylvania native won the Crew’s starting goalkeeper job shortly before the 2017 season and played every minute in goal for a Crew team that reached the Eastern Conference finals. He recorded nine shutouts and logged 16 wins, both records for a first-year Crew goalkeeper.
Steffen became somewhat of a household name during the MLS playoffs, making eight saves against Atlanta United on Oct. 26 as the Crew advanced via penalty shootout. He made at least four saves in two additional games during the Crew’s playoff run.
If Trapp and Steffen remain with the national team through the friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, they likely will miss the opening days of the Crew’s preseason, which begins with physicals and fitness testing followed by two training sessions at SuperKick in Lewis Center.
Griffi n Kinney
APPALACHIAN STATE
Not every player has a clear path to the basket when it comes to playing in the majorcollege ranks, and Griffin Kinney knew during his senior year at Delaware that he would have to do some extra dribbling before finding a landing spot.
Kinney stood 6 feet 8 but weighed only 190 pounds, and cards, letters and emails from recruiters weren’t exactly stuffing his mailbox.
“I wasn’t ready for college and I knew it,” he said.
The best option was what amounted to a fifth year of high school at basketball power Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia.
The discipline, academics and heavyweight basketball schedule combined to land Kinney a scholarship at Appalachian State.
Now a senior, he has played in more than 100 games and has been a key man in the rotation since his freshman year.
Kinney is averaging 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes playing time for a team that is 8- 9 overall and 3- 1 and in a three- way tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference.
“I give Fork Union all the credit in the world for why I am here,” he said. “Fork Union gave me another year to grow and develop. I got more looks from colleges and didn’t waste a year of eligibility. It was a strict environment with no cellphones. When you get bored, you study. When you get bored, you lift weights or shoot. I was able to focus.”
Kinney turned into a 240- pound power forward and received a scholarship offer from VMI.
He wound up at Appalachian State when Jason Allison, the VMI assistant who scouted him, changed jobs.
Appalachian State has an enrollment of about 19,000 and is in Boone, North Carolina.
“I came on a visit, got the offer and I knew I was going to come here,” Kinney said. “This is just an awesome region of the country. I chose Appalachian State because of the school and coaching staff, the men who are going to be role models in your life.”
Kinney’s arrival coincided with the hiring of coach Jim Fox and the Mountaineers taking a giant step from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt.
The team is beginning to tread water after going 12- 17, 9- 22 and 9- 21.
“I was the first recruit for this staff, but now I’m the older guy and I’ve tried to set the culture — show guys how things are done,” he said. “I let the young players know that this is a whole new beast. I tell them that everyone is a star at the high school level, but now it is ‘ team.’ ”
Kinney’s value is playing an all- around game.
“I have always tried to be that consistent guy,” he said. “We have other guys who can shoot it better than me. I think I do a little bit of everything. I get playmakers the ball where they want it and need it. I understand the flow of the game and know what my teammates and opponents can do.”
Others to watch
Duling, a 6- 7 freshman forward from Newark, is averaging 4.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 18.1 minutes. Moyer, a 6- 8 sophomore forward from Gahanna, is averaging 4.4 points and 5.1 rebounds and has started 16 games.