Striking senior: Taylor leads the Aggie attack

Nathan Dunn

As she checked in at the 56th minute, junior forward Sara Taylor prepared to lead her team in a scoreless, tied game against Marquette on Sept. 5, 2021. Just one minute after checking into the game, Taylor received a cross and sent it into a wide-open goal to put the Aggies up 1-0. Two overtimes and 48 minutes later, Taylor sent a ball from the corner to her teammate, forward Sammie Murdock, who scored the gamewinning goal to give the Aggies their fifth win of the year, 2-1.

“My main goal is to score goals,” Taylor said with a laugh. “This coming season, I want to score 10 goals, but also assist my teammates with 10 assists.”

Scoring goals and assisting her teammates is nothing new to Taylor. In three full seasons at Utah State, Taylor has scored 12 goals, six in 2021, with seven assists in 52 career games. Starting in all 22 games last season, Taylor is destined to bring even more power to the Aggies in 2022, and she has her sights set high.

“In high school, my team made the playoffs, but we lost the semifinals. I’ve never won a championship,” Taylor said. “Our goal as a team this season is to win the Mountain West championship.”

That goal is realistic for the Aggies this season, considering the unexpected success of last season.

After being projected to finish seventh in the preseason Mountain West poll in 2021, the Aggies made it to the semi-final, where they fell 2-1 in overtime to New Mexico, who went on to win the championship.

Taylor was recruited for collegiate soccer at a young age. During her first year of high school soccer, she was getting scouted by recruiters.

“They came out my freshman year of high school. And then into my sophomore year is when I committed,” Taylor said. “I loved the campus, the university, the team was awesome — it was just a really cool place. I love Logan and it just kind of felt like it’s a good fit for me in what I was looking for in the college atmosphere.”

While Taylor was busy scoring goals for the Aggies, her sister was busy defending the box. Rachel Noel, Sara’s twin sister, was a goalie for the Aggies from 2018-2021.

“I always liked having a friend on the team. It makes it even more enjoyable. Having someone to talk to so

I could ask her stuff that I could work on, because she can see everything when she is back under the goal,” Taylor said. “It was so nice to kind of have that friend on the team.”

Taylor, formerly Sara Noel before marrying her husband Jake Taylor in February 2020, and Rachel played on the same high school team at Woods Cross High School.

“It was fun because she played goalie, so we would go to the park and I would shoot on her,” Taylor said. “It worked out because it was practice for both of us.”

In high school, Taylor scored 21 goals and helped lead Woods Cross to a region title in 2017, receiving allstate honors twice.

Taylor also competed in basketball and ran track, but she never lost focus on soccer.

“My main sport was soccer. I also played basketball for the school teams, never competitive, so it was mainly soccer,” Taylor said.

Being a three-sport athlete causes wear and tear on the body, a setback she faced at the beginning of her collegiate career.

“I had to redshirt my sophomore year because I have really bad ankles,” Taylor said. “I sprained my ankle a couple of times during the fall, so I had to sit out the season, which was hard, but it ended up being good in the long run.”

Due to the redshirt, Taylor is on the roster for the 2022 season as one of eight seniors on the team. That gives her a responsibility to be a veteran leader.

“When we started unofficial practices without coaches, we needed to lead and set the example of being early and the intensity that we bring to each session,” Taylor said on the importance of leading the new athletes. “Recovering, taking care of yourself after practices, I think is a really big focus that we’re trying to continue to improve (with) the team culture and make sure that everyone’s ready when preseason comes.” transfers, the Aggies are expected to have a big season. In order to achieve that, Taylor does her best to build and strengthen bonds with her teammates.

“I want to be known for being a good teammate, always being there for your teammates, a team player that makes the team better, and just a nice person,” Taylor said.

Manny Martins, entering his second year as head coach for the Aggies, said that Taylor has helped the team more than you would think.

“I mean, how has she not helped? She’s a leader who is always willing to go out and do extra things with them, but also someone who leads by example,” Martins said. “She gives a lot to the program.”

One of the extra things Taylor gives her team is good luck. She likes to joke about how superstitious she is, even on the road, and what she does to make sure she can perform her best.

“I’m very superstitious. I have a lucky scrunchie that I wear every game. I usually do a blue one, but I think I’m going to mix it up this year and change how I do my hair, so hopefully that goes well,” Taylor said, laughing. “But before every game, I make pumpkin pancakes and eat them. Even when we’re on the road. I bought a mini pancake griddle, and I’ll make them in my hotel room and eat them before the games.”

Whether it is the pumpkin pancakes that help her perform her best or not, Martins is happy to help Taylor keep her pregame routine.

“It’s certainly working for her,” Martins said. “We’ll make sure she gets her pancakes.”

Taylor and the Aggies start conference play on Sept. 22 at Nevada and open up the home schedule on Sept. 25 against UNLV.