Playing in front of his team’s home fans last year in the U.S. Open Cup, Auston Kranick sought reaffirmation and comfort in his surroundings.

Was this really happening? Had his lifelong dream of playing professional soccer actually come true?

The Flower City Football Club player took in the scenery and felt the rush of adrenaline.

“The best international players in the world who played in the 2022 World Cup were there,” Kranick said. “Playing on a national stage like that U.S. Open Cup in front of our amazing home supporters in Rochester was an fantastic experience. We didn’t get our desired result, but it proved to me that I can compete and excel at that level.”

A Franklin Regional product who played Division I college soccer on scholarship at Oakland (Mich.), Kranick looked back at the statistics from that highlight game.

“I was the most fouled player that night — by a lot,” Kranick said with a laugh.

But that was alright. His journey had reached its destination — for now. Fouls were a christening of sorts.

Kranick, 22, is in his second year with the FCFC, based in Rochester, N.Y.

“Playing professionally has been a fantastic experience and one I am very proud of,” Kranick said. “I’m very blessed and thankful to wake up every day and get paid to do what I love.”

A WPIAL champion and all-state player for nationally ranked Franklin Regional, Kranick played academy soccer in Europe during his high school offseasons. He was home schooled but lived primarily in Murrysville, playing club for Arsenel FC, where he was a three-time State Cup champion, and FC Barcelona out of Arizona.

After turning pro at 19, he bounced around with the Pittsburgh Hotspurs, Corpus Christi FC and Fort Wayne, before landing with Flower City Union.

Kranick said he was scouted by Flower City while he was playing for Fort Wayne FC, a USL 2 team.

He played only one year of college soccer before finding his way into the National Independent Soccer Association.

“They reached out to my agent, and I was offered a contract with an option for another year in September 2021 and accepted it for the 2022 season,” Kranick said. “The team offered to re-sign me, and I decided to return for the 2023 season.”

Last season, Kranick played in 24 games, starting 21. He managed four assists as a right back and right winger.

A nominee for the league’s top rookie award, he played the most minutes of any player under 22.

“I always knew I had what it took to make it to the top level,” he said. “It was all about putting in the right amount of hard work and sacrifice to reach my full potential, and I’m still working to do that every day. I was probably about 16 when I felt I was at the level technically. The biggest part of my game I had to improve on was physically and mentally.”

The move to high-level soccer came with its challenges, not the least of which was going against players with 10 times the experience.

But Kranick is more attuned now to the pace of play and talent around him.

“The toughest transition would absolutely be the intelligence of the players around me,” he said. “In college and academy ball, you’re playing with and against guys either your age or in your age bracket. Last year, I was 20-21 years old playing against guys that had been playing professionally for 15-plus years, guys that were 10 to 15 years older than me, and their soccer IQ was incredibly high.

“You have to be a sponge and try to learn and take in as much information as quickly as you can. The highest-level guys make the hardest things look easy and are so consistent with their execution of everything, rarely making mistakes. The game is definitely sped up, so my speed of thought and decision making had to improve tenfold.”

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