Opposing strikers may feel confident in their ability to score when they take the field this season against the Sacramento State women’s soccer team, but they won’t have much luck getting the ball in between the goal posts.

Not if Kara Taylor has anything to say about it. Led by Taylor, the team’s sweeper and a rising star in the Big Sky Conference, the Hornets have built a solid and intimidating defensive unit that is the backbone of a team heading into its spring exhibition schedule made up of regional schools.

Taylor, an undeclared freshman, was immediately lauded for her extraordinary defensive prowess as the team’s sweeper, a crucial position that is typically the last line of defense before the goalkeeper. Last year, Taylor was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive co-MVP and was named as one of seven members to Big Sky Conference’s first team.

The commendations were especially impressive considering it was Taylor’s first semester participating in collegiate competition. While she was a bit surprised by the accolades, Taylor said that her excellent performance last season was a product of high standards set by her coaches and teammates.

“My coaches expected a lot from me last year even though I was new,” Taylor said. “I also set a really high standard for myself.” Taylor is quick to deflect credit to her teammates.

“A lot of the reason I got to where I am is because of the other players on the team and their leadership,” Taylor said. “Having teammates as good as they are helped a lot.”

Taylor grew up in Oregon, where she played on both her high school team and on the Oregon United club team. In high school, she was named third-team all-state as a sophomore and holds the school record with five goals in one game. While her high school achievements are impressive, Taylor said that her experience playing on more competitive club teams helped her make the transition to the collegiate level.

“Play at this level is a lot more aggressive, faster,” she said of college soccer. “My club team played at a high level, so I was pretty used to it coming in.”

Of course, being an excellent defensive player takes a certain mindset, a kind of bravado, and Taylor has no qualms about admitting that she takes pride in preventing the opponent from scoring. Head coach Katie Poynter says that she sees another trait in Taylor that has allowed her to become so good so quickly: leadership.

“Kara is different from a lot of first-year players because she is very mature on the field,” Poynter said. “She’s a silent leader; she’s very organized and sees the field very well. Her teammates have a lot of confidence in her. It says so much about her that all of her teammates respect her at such a young age.”

That respect is one facet of an excellent team chemistry that both Taylor and Poynter say is extremely important in developing a winning attitude.

“The older girls on the team are saying that the team chemistry is the best it’s ever been,” Taylor said. “That’s really, really important. Having that trust in your teammates, having that trust on the field, helps you overcome teams.”

“The girls this year are really like family,” Poynter said. “And like a family, they are always trying to live up to one another. You never want to let people close to you down.”

With expectations raised even higher for Taylor and the women’s team this spring, Taylor is extremely confident about the team’s winning prospects.

“We’re definitely going to win the conference this year,” Taylor said. “We’re going to be gunning for other teams.”

Paul Rice can be reached at [email protected]