Joy in Net: McKinley Crone More Than Alabama Soccer's Last Line of Defense

Alabama's star goalkeeper has had quite a journey from Florida, to Oklahoma, to now representing the Crimson Tide during a historically great season.

Author:
Mason Smith
Publish date:
Nov 3, 2022 7:00 AM EDT

Before she was the starting goalkeeper for the SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide, or the record-setting goalkeeper at Oklahoma, or even the high-school star who won several individual accolades, McKinley Crone grew up in a Florida town not even 20 minutes north of Orlando, called Maitland.

There, she was exposed to athletics at an early age. Her father Mark was a world champion water skier, and McKinley played a wide variety of sports in her youth.

"Athletics was kind of not a choice for me, but more of a lifestyle," Crone said. "So my parents put me in everything, and soccer seemed to be what stuck."

Crone really found her love for soccer when she was about 9 years old, and won her first state championship as a member of her club team. She didn't know it then, but the joy she experienced during that win changed her life, and started her on the path to Alabama.

In a way, she's come full circle as the Crimson Tide is in Pensacola this week trying to win the SEC Tournament title for the first time in program history. If successful, maybe her feelings will mirror that first championship more than a decade ago

"It was so fun. I loved the girls that I was playing with, and I like winning," the graduate student said with a chuckle. "So it was really cool to start off like that, and that's when I realized [soccer] is a fun sport."

The fun was only beginning for Crone as she eventually took her talents to Edgewater High School in Orlando. She saw time at forward during her freshman year but settled in at goalkeeper and started racking up awards. They included:

Member of 2016-17 Orange County Metro West Champions team and 4A District Champions Squad
2015-16 All-Metro Player of the Year and Orlando Sentinel Female Athlete of the Year
State Cup Champion in 2017
Aided club team to the State Cup Final Four in both 2015 and 2016 and to a Region 3 League Championship in 2015-16

The list goes on and on, and naturally colleges started calling. Considering her initial choice, and location in the Sunshine State, it surprises many to hear that Crone's primary guiding force in picking a program and school was family.

"I made my commitment fairly young," Crone said. "My mom's side of the family lives out in Texas, and that's kinda where I thought I'd want to go to school."

The university Crone was referring to is Oklahoma, and during two seasons she started every game for the Sooners. Again the accolades piled up, including 208 career saves (sixth all-time in program history), and holding the sixth-most (111) and 10th-most (97) saves in a single season, respectively.

However, her individual success was not a reflection of the team's overall success. As a freshman the Sooners finished 3-14-4 overall with a 1-5-3 conference record. Her sophomore year? An 8-10-2 record with a 3-5-1 mark in the Big 12.

Crone also suffered an injury, and it was during that time, with two years of eligibility remaining, she decided it was time for a change.

"I came on my visit [to Alabama], and just fell in love with everything about this school, between the coaches, the girls that were on the team, the facilities," Crone said. "Just the whole attitude about the Alabama athletics department.

"I was like 'Wow, I want to be a part of that.'"

She felt it so strongly that Crone cancelled the rest of her scheduled visits after Alabama, and committed to the Crimson Tide the next day.

A big factor in why was Alabama head coach Wes Hart, now in his eighth season leading the Crimson Tide.

"Wes was a coach I wanted to play for," Crone said about when she first met Hart. "He cared so much about the team and the program. and it was like 'Why wouldn't you wanna play for him?' You wanna play for a coach that loves his players and loves his team so much."

Fast forward two years later, Crone and the Crimson Tide have etched their names in history, becoming just the third program ever to finish SEC regular-season play undefeated, and earning Alabama soccer's first regular season championship.

She's already set program records for wins in a single season (18 and counting) and for a career (36), respectively.

However, when Alabama cleaned up in this week's soccer coaches' postseason awards, Crone was overlooked. While the Crimson Tide won six of the seven major awards, she wasn't a first- or second-team All-SEC selection.

The defensive line in front of her got credit, though. Led by Sasha Pickard and SEC Defender of the Year Reyna Reyes, the Crimson Tide notched nine shutouts during the regular season, and notched No. 10 with the 2-0 victory over Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterbacks.

"They're absolutely incredible," Crone said. "They deserve every single award there is. I had to make a couple saves, but it doesn't even touch the amount of blocks they make, the one-v-one defending, the grittiness that they have.

"It's every single game, it's every single day. And they push each other and the rest of the team to be at their best, and it's so cool to watch and be behind. It's led by Sasha Pickard, but honestly, Brooke Steere, and Gessica Skorka, and Marianna, and Reyna, they're all so critical. Without one piece of it, it falls apart. They're just absolutely incredible."

Meanwhile, the offense has been spearheaded by SEC Forward of the Year Riley Mattingly Parker, and SEC Midfielder of the Year Felicia Knox, who leads the nation with 15 assists.

Eight players have scored at least four goals for the Crimson Tide this season. Also, the offense scored multiple goals in every game minus three.

According to Crone, it all ignites a fire in the team to keep on the attack.

"We say 'Oh, go get the next one'," Crone said. "We score and we wanna score again. It's not done until the final whistle blows."

Crone remembers a time a couple years ago when Alabama gave up a goal late in the game, but there's been no repeat this season. She says this group has been adamant about its mental approaching, of always playing until the the very end.

Mix in the depth, talent level and veteran experience throughout the roster and there's a myriad of reasons as to why this Crimson Tide team has been successful. But what Crone, Coach Hart, Parker, Knox and everyone involved claims is a common thread is the emphasis on putting the team first.

That goes from the star players down to the reserves.

"There are two things I want to say to that," Crone said. "First, we're just one piece in a puzzle. Every single person matters, and if you don't place that last piece of the puzzle in, it's not complete. Everybody understanding that their puzzle piece is as important as the next, is the first thing."

The second thing? It was an ideal borrowed from softball head coach Patrick Murphy, with its origins in Buddhist philosophy: "Mudita," which in simplest terms means an unselfish joy of happiness for others.

"This idea of mudita is that we love each other equally, and every single person matters but just really celebrate the successes when they happen," Crone said.

She pointed to one teammate as being the perfect example: Sydney Japic, who's only played in 10 games this season due to injury.

"She was dealt a really unfortunate situation by being hurt this year, but has just embraced it entirely and is one of the loudest people on the sidelines, and understands she matters just as much as the next person does on this team " Crone said.

Having a goaltender whom her teammates can trust and have confidence in goes a long way as well.

It goes without saying that the Crimson Tide has been aiming to improve on last year's finish; a first-round exit in the SEC Tournament and a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. The first part has already been achieved and the Women's Soccer Championship bracket will be announced on Monday.

After then, who knows what's possible, especially since Alabama is already guaranteed a top seeding in the tournament. Fans caught on and starting coming out in droves as the Crimson Tide started riding a 14-game winning streak. They might soon get their first taste of postseason soccer in Tuscaloosa.

"This is all new to us," Hart said. "It's all exciting for us."

But first, Alabama takes on Vanderbilt in an SEC Tournament semifinal at 5 p.m. CT, with the winner playing for the championship on Sunday.

"This town likes winners, and it's cool to be a part of that," Crone said. "From Clemson, South Carolina, Ole Miss. The energy that they bring, we feel it on the field and it drives us.

"When we were walking on to the field, I actually looked up and got a little emotional just because it was so cool to be a part of that for the very first time. I'm just so grateful to everybody who's been a part of our support this year, and I'm hoping that it continues as we continue on in the season."