Gabriella Crivelli eyes the ball during a 3-0 win over Hamilton West on Oct. 13. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
These days, the word “hybrid” is almost solely associated with cars, thanks to it presence in numerous ads courtesy of the automobile industry. But there can be human hybrids, as well.
Considering one definition of the word is “of mixed character, composed of mixed parts,” one might consider Gabriella Crivelli a bit of a hybrid individual. On the soccer pitch, she is part forward, part midfielder, part defender. Within her personality, she is part stern and part joker.
Put it all together and you have an underrated but valuable performer for the Hopewell Valley Central High School girls’ soccer team, as Crivelli has been plugged in to wherever coach John McGinley needs her this season.
Coming up through rec and travel soccer, Crivelli was always a midfielder or forward. This season, McGinley put the senior at outside back, but still can’t help moving her all over the field.
“She goes from outside back to outside attack to center midfield, she’s kind of like a jack of all trades,” the veteran coach said. “She starts at outside back, moves around, then ends up in the back. She’s got the skills to play everywhere. She’s athletic, fast and a strong kid.”
None of that bothers Crivelli, who feels the more she gets to sample, the better off she will be.
“I definitely don’t mind doing it,” she said. “Whatever works to help the team during the game. And it’s kind of unique getting to experience things all over the field. You get to understand what everyone else is doing, so you’re able to do better when you’re back at your position.”
She does it all with a firm focus on the field. McGinley calls her “a hard worker who works a lot in the off-season to get in great shape.” She keeps her intensity during a game and in the classroom, as witnessed by a 3.7 grade point average. But she has a flip side to that personality.
“She has a really good sense of humor and she’ll have her moments where she’s goofy and silly, kind of a little quirky,” McGinley said. “I’ll say to her ‘Are you having one of those days today?’ and she’ll say ‘Yup’ and she’ll just be goofy. She seems so serious but she’s not. She has a laid back side to her.”
Crivelli has a reason for flipping that switch. She wants to win games as much as anyone, but not at the cost of getting a reputation as “the girl who never smiled.” She wants to look back on high school soccer as something more than just cold, hard numbers.
“No matter how old you are, you’re always looking up to people and I know that being a senior, there is a time to be serious and stay focused,” she said. “When you’re focused it travels throughout the team. But I love having fun times and having those goofy moments. That’s what this experience is all about. It’s not just wins and losses but about the awesome memories you have with these girls that you’ll always take with you.”
Crivelli is making memories in two sports, as she is a standout defender in lacrosse and hopes to play for Muhlenberg College next year.
But soccer has been in her blood since kindergarten, when she learned to play the sport with her cousins on the fields of Ewing. Crivelli played for the Ewing Hawks travel team in second grade and stayed with them for seven years, despite moving to Titusville in third grade. She switched to the Next Level Soccer Academy of Pennington, coached by the Pennington School’s Chad Bridges, and in her two years there the team reached the State Cup finals in ninth grade and won the State Cup in 10th.
“You learn to play under pressure in those State Cup games, and not to have the crowd affect you so much,” Crivelli said. “It helps you grow as a player. You’re more comfortable when you’re in those situations again, especially in high school.”
During her sophomore year at HVCHS, Crivelli played for the JV team and McGinley toyed with calling her up to the varsity. He claimed the fact that he did not “is kind of one of my regrets,” but the player herself didn’t mind.
“It’s a good feeling to hear something like that,” Crivelli said. “But I think having another year to grow as a player and get more mature on the field does help and it influences how you play the next few years. You’ve worked hard to get to that spot and you appreciate it more.”
When she finally got to varsity, McGinley had her as an attacking midfielder or a holding midfielder. He envisioned her starting as a central midfielder again this year, but the emergence of players such as sophomore Julie Cane at that spot freed Crivelli up to go elsewhere.
“She has that ability and skill but we kind of felt we needed her to go to the back,” the coach said. “I know in lacrosse she plays defense and has that mentality of being a defender, so she’s more than willing to do it.”
McGinley believes that a defensive mentality counts for a lot.
“She understands it, that she’s the last line of a defense,” he said. “The mindset is different, you’ve gotta be tough and physical, doing the dirty work and grunt work to get the ball to other players. We figured that would transfer over from lacrosse.”
But because she is skilled up front McGinley will move her up, saying “everyone wants to play a little offense. And we want our backs to attack a little bit.”
Crivelli agreed with her coach’s assessment that she possesses a defensive mindset. She feels that getting positioning in lacrosse is similar to soccer in that footwork is necessary. She also noted that just because she was playing midfield, didn’t mean she was shirking her defensive responsibility.
“You have to play defense anywhere on field,” Crivelli said. “It was really no different. It just became my main focus instead of secondary focus. I enjoy it back there, I’m confident. I wasn’t used to it at first, now I’d rather be back there.”
Crivelli’s efforts helped the Bulldogs to a 12-1-1 record by mid-October, with the county and state tournaments looming.
“We’re a really strong team this year, we’re very tight and that transfers on and off the field,” she said. “We’re one big unit, we know it makes us stronger, something to build upon. You need those things to help you when get to counties and states.”
When she’s not playing sports, Crivelli serves as secretary of the HVCHS Student Council and is involved in a number of community service projects. Just consider it another facet of her hybrid personality.
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