The first games of the women’s soccer 2019 season have seen junior forward Taylor Scott take her skills to a new level, with six goals and two assists in only nine matches.
Despite recent success, the forward struggled in her first two years with the Broncos. During her freshman year, she failed to get on the score sheet and didn’t have many minutes on the field.
For her sophomore year, the forward was not able to contribute to the Broncos on the field as an injury kept her out most of the season.
“Being injured last season motivated me more, because technically that’s wasting a year of my eligibility. So it just motivated me to go out there and give everything I have every single game because I didn’t get to do that last year,” Scott said.
(Courtesy Of Kalea Vizmanos)
After the devastating injury, Scott went back to her roots and started working with one of her old coaches over the summer, with her eyes set on redemption in the 2019 season.
Even though she was sidelined for most of the 2018 season, that was not a cause in setting her back, as the forward also worked on her own, specifically on her fitness.
“Over the summer I trained with one of my old coaches and also did fitness on my own. That’s something I really have to focus on. And the last few summers, I played with a semi-pro team and that has helped improve my game a lot,” Scott said.
As the new season started, the forward was not able to score in the first two games of the season but in the third game, against Metro State, Scott stepped up for the Broncos and scored a golden goal in overtime.
“It was big for our group because we were still growing in that moment,” head coach Jay Mason said. “Three or four games in, we c(a)me off a tough loss. I think it lifted the team up a little bit; it gave them a little more confidence, but in a variety of levels. It helped, not just in her having the confidence in scoring big goals, but it helped our team and allowed us to take a deep breath.”
Scott’s golden goal, aside from handing the Broncos their second win, also had a huge impact on the team, as the emotional win motivated the whole team to go on a four-game win streak.
During that run, Scott was at her best as she scored in each of those games, and had her best game versus Northwest Nazarene when she racked up two goals.
“I think her being brave when stepping up in big moments allows the players around her to feel like they can be brave too. It influences the rest; and ultimately it’s been a big change for this team this year knowing that we have players like her that can score goals,” Mason said.
Even though Scott has been on fire for the Broncos recently, that is not enough for the forward and she has set high expectations for herself for the rest of the season.
Specifically, she has aspirations to become one of the top players in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference.
“I want to be top scorer and offensive player in the CCAA conference, but overall I just want to be a top player in the conference,” Scott said.
The forward will look to add more goals to her name in search of becoming one of the top players in the conference when the team travels to Chico State and Stanislaus State on Oct. 11 and Oct. 13, respectively.