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Catching Up With ... Fenwick soccer twins Danny and Ryan Crane

Wednesday, October, 17 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

Age: 17

High school: Bishop Fenwick

Year in school: Seniors

Sport: Soccer

Positions: Center midfield (Danny) and center back (Ryan)

What do you remember most about your first varsity game?

Danny: "It was junior year and I remember it was kind of overwhelming being thrown into a high-pressure situation. We played Swampscott, and I think I played pretty good."

Ryan: "I started at center midfield and scored the only goal (in a 4-1 loss to Swampscott). Then, the next game I played defense. There were a couple injuries, and the coach pretty much said he wanted me to try out defense because the team needed me there. I ran with it."

*How do you like playing with your brother? *

D: "It works pretty well. Sometimes we get at each other, but it's because we both want to win. I haven't had it any other way. We've always played together on the same team, and we work pretty well together on the field."

R: "We sometimes get into arguments, but we try to avoid them as much as we can. We don't argue as much during games, but during practice he'll just say something and I don't feel like listening to him. But he is my captain."

*Are the two of you competitive with one another? *

D: "We've always been competitive, but it's good natured. We're not overly competitive."

R: "We're pretty competitive with everything. We always want to out-do the other one."

Does that friendly competition make you better players?

D: "Oh, definitely. Having someone to compete with always pushes you to be better. You don't want to be better than the other person, but you definitely want to be able to compete with him and maybe show him up sometimes."

R: "It helps if you see that he starts doing better, because you don't want to let him get all the glory."

*Is it helpful having someone you know so well in the same lineup with you? *

D: "Definitely. At Fenwick not a lot of kids played youth soccer together. It was easy coming into the program knowing a couple of people. It made the transition easier from middle school to high school."

R: "It was helpful, especially freshman year. We didn't know many kids at Fenwick."

*How are you two different? *

D: "We're not identical twins, but people think we are. I'd say that I'm more serious at times and Ryan's kind of easy going. He jokes around a lot and always tries to have fun."

R: "I'm more relaxed; he's high-strung. I also have the edge in the classroom."

What colleges are the two of you looking at?

D: "We're in the college process. We're both looking at Holy Cross and Northeastern. I think we'll pretty much try to stay local, and we haven't really decided if we want to go to the same college. We'll probably talk about it a little, but we'll choose based on what we want. If it happens to be the same school, fine. If not, that's also fine."

R: "I'm looking at Boston College, BU, Northeastern, Holy Cross, and Notre Dame. I'm not too sure what I'll study, but I like science so it will probably be something in that area."

*Do you have any other hobbies besides soccer? *

D: "We play the guitar. That question about being competitive also applies here."

R: "I haven't played in a while, not since school started. For the most part I can play along to whatever song I'm listening to."

*How is your team playing right now? *

D: "We've been playing pretty well. We've had some tough competition the last couple of games. This team is a lot different from last year. Last year we had a couple kids who could score; this year the scoring is spread out. I'm the leading goal scorers | and I only have five goals."

R: "We lost against Peabody, which was disappointing, and we tied Saugus. We thought we could have done better, but we're just two points away from (qualifying for) the state tournament. We're confident in how we play. We just have to keep it up."