|
Krupa during the DII National Championship against Pittsburgh.
By Jackie Finlan
When Erin Krupa first joined Raleigh Venom, she wasn’t the team leader she is today. In fact, “I was so bad,” the 29-year-old laughed, “that I won Most Improved Player two years in a row.” Four years later, she’s just captained Raleigh to its third DII Championship title, and her team’s return to the top mimics her advancement through the ranks.
Krupa arrived to Raleigh in spring 2005, moving to the area in pursuit of her Ph.D in mathematics at NC State. “The team was already into hard-core training for nationals,” she said. “It was a really intimidating environment to enter.” She learned her role as a second-half impact player, but it was a difficult transition from her previous playing/coaching days. When she attended Elon University, she was a four-year, dynamic starter. While at Wake Forest during grad school, when she discovered there was no local team on which to play, she led the college team as coach.
That time on the bench as a reserve helped her aspire to a starting position. “At the 2005 nationals, I was the 17th person on a 17-woman roster,” Krupa said. “I worked really hard, and it took me two-and-a-half years after joining Raleigh to crack the top 15.”
The experience has made her a better leader today. “I can relate to people who are coming in off the bench,” she explained. “It’s mentally challenging, especially if you’re used to starting.”
On the field, Krupa brings consistency and great field vision. The inside center-cum-flyhalf is a former soccer/volleyball player, and her previously preferred sports have enabled her to pinpoint holes in the defense and set up her teammates for line breaks. “I don’t score as many tries as I used to,” Krupa said of switching from playmaker to play-caller, “but there’s nothing better than looking up from the ground after being flattened and seeing my teammate crashing through the line because of a play I started.”
She spent the last year honing her positional skills – tactical kicking, decision-making, etc. – but opponents know Krupa for her defense. “It’s my bread and butter,” she said. She heads an intense defensive line whose goal is to create offense. Raleigh attacks its offense with the intent to turn the ball over.
So what happened to Raleigh during the last couple of years? After winning DII Championships in 2005 and 2006, the team jumped up to DI and played the likes of NOVA and Philadelphia. The team struggled with numbers and only won one game against Maryland in its two years in division one.
“We weren’t bad players,” Krupa explained. “We just didn’t have the numbers to support this brand of rugby every weekend.”
Then when DI on the East Coast expanded to include Atlanta, Boston and teams in between, Raleigh relegated itself back to DII. “We’re well placed in DII,” Krupa said.
But all would be come to a head at nationals. Would they railroad the competition the way they did in 2005 and 2006? Would they be another big fish in a small pond?
No. While Raleigh had its way with first-timer Houston in the first round (26-0), it lost to Pittsburgh 17-15 due to a closing-minutes penalty.
“We were devastated,” Krupa said. “We weren’t sure if we were going to get that fourth slot into the semis. The tournament was being held at two different locations, so we couldn’t check in with other teams, and the scores weren’t being broadcast online. So for a few hours, we thought the championship was over for us.”
Raleigh did get that wild card slot and came back on Sunday to beat Providence 31-5 in the semis. Pittsburgh eked out a 5-3 win over Albany in their semi.
“We got our second chance,” Krupa said of the rematch against Pittsburgh in the final. “Before the game, I told the team that it was good that we lost yesterday. We didn’t play poorly, but we knew what defeat tasted like, and now we had to hand that feeling to someone else.”
It wasn’t easy, but Venom pulled it off. They tweaked their scrum, which had started to lose its own ball late in the game against Pittsburgh. And coaches refocused the backs’ defense to prevent the line breaks that evolved late in the game as well.
After two Raleigh tries in the first 15 minutes of the match, all the team had to do was hold on. “It came down to heart,” Krupa said. “Everyone’s bodies were so beaten up after four matches in two days, and that last 20 minutes felt like forever. We got a yellow card with 12 minutes remaining, and I almost had a heart attack! That’s how we lost to Pittsburgh on Saturday, with a late turn of events.”
But the 14 players fought it out and claimed a well-earned championship. Krupa tipped her hat to the level of competition at nationals. “It makes me more proud of what we accomplished,” she said. “No other playoff is structured like ours – four games in four days. Additionally, this one [compared to previous titles] is sweeter for me because I’m in a leadership position.”
And it’s why her coaches voted her MVP of the weekend. “The entire team played some of the best rugby that we have seen this season,” coach Mike Lee said. “And there were some outstanding individual efforts, but Erin Krupa led by example and kept everyone motivated and driving toward the team’s goal.”
But that’s just her nature. After all, it did take her four years to get here.
|