Kempin knows backup role with Crew well

There’s a conversation coach Gregg Berhalter has when Crew SC acquires a new player, and it can get deep.

Realistic expectations are laid out for the player, with the understanding that if they match with reality, then the player most likely will be happy.

The dialogue becomes even more important when the team brings in a player ticketed to back up a national-team player. So it was perhaps a lucky coincidence that when the Crew traded for Jon Kempin in December, it was acquiring a player who knew what it meant to be the backup for an elite goalkeeper.

Kempin, 25, hails from Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended the same high school as former Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum. After six years as William Hesmer’s backup, Gruenebaum finally took over the starting spot in 2012 when Hesmer missed the season because of injury. Crew SC goalkeeper Jon Kempin is unable to make a save on a shot by the New York Red Bulls’ Alex Muyl in a game this month in Mapfre Stadium. Kempin, 25, is getting rare starts while Zack Steffen is injured.

The two stay in touch, Kempin said.

“We’re good friends,” he said. “Andy and I definitely talked before I

came here. He was telling me about different places and the coaching staff and the training facility. It was good to get

information from him.”

Their careers overlapped briefly when both played for Kansas City in 2014.

Hesmer, too, played a role in Kempin’s development when he served as a mentor and personal coach while a member of the Kansas City Wizards in the mid-2000s.

With the Crew, Kempin has stepped in when first-string goalkeeper Zack Steffen has been away with the U.S. national team or injured, as is currently the case. Kempin has started four games this season, and the Crew is 1-1-2 in them.

“He’s improved in all his games, and he’s showing that he’s learning how we play,” Berhalter said Thursday. “He’s been calm, and I think he’s done a good job.”

Kempin has credited Crew goalkeeper coach Pat Onstad, a three-time MLS Cup winner now in his fifth season as an assistant on Berhalter’s staff, for keeping him focused even as the potential for playing time has been minimal.

It helps that Kempin is familiar with the role. A game Saturday against Real Salt Lake will be just his 19th career MLS appearance and 18th start since joining Kansas City in 2010.

“I’ve kind of played the same role on a number of different teams, so I’m familiar with that,” he said. “Obviously Zack, where he is now, being on the national team and the seasons he’s had over the last two seasons, he’s solidified himself as the No. 1.

“For me, it’s about testing him in training, making him get better every day in training, and then staying sharp, so if he does leave with the national team or something happens to him, I can fill in and keep the team rolling.”