OCFC Alum Danny Crisostomo Right at Home for Start of Professional Career
By Daniel Cermak/NPSL.com
Former Orange County FC Midfielder Danny Crisostomo has begun his professional career close to home with the USL’s Orange County SC.
“It’s an exciting feeling to represent an area I’m familiar with, an area I’m from,” Crisostomo said. “It’s nice to play in front of a community, city, friends and family I’ve been around for a long time. It’s nice that I can make those people proud.”
Not only did signing with Orange County SC make sense from a personal standpoint, but from a soccer standpoint as well.
“They were a solid team last year and they had a really good year so I was happy to sign with a great organization,” Crisostomo said. “I was pretty ecstatic about it.”
Crisostomo started his professional career following a breakout senior year at UC Irvine where he received Big West Midfielder of the Year and All-Big West First Team honors. So far the transition to the professional game from the college game has been all about the mentality for Crisostomo, something he’s prepared to bring day in and day out, whether it’s training or matches.
“In every training here you have to be mentally focused 100% of the time in whatever you do, whether it’s a small little passing pattern or whether it’s more possession, whatever you do you have to bring your best,” Crisostomo said. “There’s a higher level of playing as well but I think the most important thing is the mentality the player’s bring, that’s what separates it the most.”
Crisostomo’s two seasons with Orange County FC of the NPSL helped prepare him for the professional life and ensured he can be at his best for his college season.
“It was a good experience, I got close with a lot of boys, I could stay close with college teammates, really good team, good organization,” Crisostomo said. “It really helped me develop myself and helped make sure my level didn’t drop during the off-season.”
OCFC head coach Paul Caliguri recognizes the impact Crisostomo had on his club and is happy to see him stay in Orange County.
“Danny is an exceptionally skilled player that has helped lead Orange County Football Club with its success over the past two seasons,” Caliguri said. “We are all super excited to support and watch Danny play at a professional level right here in our own backyard.”
From here, Crisostomo is looking to not only continue to get playing time, but be an impact player for OCSC.
“I want to play as often as possible… and make sure that I’m working as hard as possible and I’m learning from the players around me, the coaches around me so I can improve my game and be more dominant little by little,” Crisostomo said. “I talked to the coaches and said I don’t want to just be a participant, I’m not happy just being here, I want to actually make a difference.”
Crisostomo went on to note that his goal for the team and the team’s goal overall is to once again reach the Western Conference final, but this time they want to win it and go for the outright USL title. With a young upstart like Crisostomo in the squad and off to a fast start, nothing is out of the question for Orange County SC.
Photo Credit: Glenn Feingerts
