An unexpected connection helped Monroe Catholic High School senior Talon Loving find his home for the next four years. He’s headed to play play soccer for Crown College, an NCAA Division III program in Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota, thanks in part to Damon Crutcher, his coach with Eclipse Soccer Club. Loving credits Crutcher for having “changed my soccer experience.”
“An old player of mine (Travis Verkulien of Kenai) who attended Crown is graduating this year,” Crutcher said at Loving’s signing ceremony Friday. “He asked if we had any players that were interested in playing at the next level, and I was like ‘well we’ve got a kid that plays similarly to you.’”
Loving visited Crown College in February and felt “at home.”
Last spring, Loving led Monroe Catholic in assists (seven) and goals (eight). Before moving to the Lower 48, he will look to help the Rams to their first state tournament appearance since 2021 (before Loving was in high school). The Rams finished 5-3 last year and begin the 2025 season April 17 on the road. Their first game in the Interior is April 22 at North Pole.
In 2024, Crown College recorded its most wins in a season (14) since joining the NCAA in 2008. Loving, who will join a diverse roster that featured 11 international players last season, was impressed by Crown College head coach Alex Hosler’s coaching style.
“One thing that really stuck out to me that he told me was he likes the blue collar work style,” Loving said at his signing ceremony. “And, as you guys live here in Fairbanks, there’s a lot of blue collar jobs here. Whatever you put into the job is what you’re going to get out, and that’s what I see in soccer.”
Loving will continue playing outside back, which he’s been playing for the past year after switching from wing back. He has dreamt of playing collegiate soccer from a young age but only began to see the dream of attending college and competing at that level as realistic once he began putting more time and effort into training in recent years. He plans to major in business at Crown College.
Loving will have a fast acclimation process given that he’ll be playing for Monroe Catholic beginning next month, participating in club soccer this summer, and the collegiate season starts in the fall.
“It’s obviously going to be fast,” Loving said. “It’s going to be a different-paced game, but I think I’m going to enjoy it and I’m going to work as hard as I can to get caught up to the other players.”
Contact Gavin Struve at gstruve@newsminer.com or 907-459-7544
