The Taylor men’s soccer team has seen a dramatic improvement from a season ago.
The Trojans already have 60 percent of the team’s wins from 2023 in a third of the games played, sitting at a 4-2-1 record.
Last season, it took 18 games into late October to achieve five wins on the year, finishing the season at 5-11-2. Why has there been a sudden turnaround in the team’s performance?
“I think as a team we’ve gotten a lot better (at) being a team, being, you know, together on the field with one mindset and one goal,” senior forward and defender Bryce Lawrence said.
Lawrence has been a key contributor, starting in four of the six games thus far in the season. Although not always showing up in the statsheet he is an integral part of the team.
Lawrence’s season thus far is highlighted by his two-goal performance in a 3-1 comeback victory over Indiana Northwest. Another reason for the team’s improvement is the new interim head coach Drew Glover.
“Last year was very confusing and kind of all over the place for me as a player,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t really have a position and we were switching formations and all these kinds of things… Coach Drew has done a great job of putting us in situations that we can really use our strengths as a team,”
Another important contributor to the team this season has been freshman goalkeeper Connor Shaw. Shaw has allowed only nine goals in six games this season, an average of 1.5 goals per game.
Shaw particularly shined in Taylor’s scoreless draw vs. Madonna where he had his first collegiate shutout, totaling four saves. Shaw has been key to keeping the Trojans in some of their tighter games by being able to lock down the net when it’s most necessary.
The team is looking ahead to Crossroads League play, which holds some of their toughest tests of the season. Over the next month, Taylor will play three ranked teams, including showdowns with No. 20 Grace on Sept. 28 and No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan on Oct. 16.
Potentially the toughest test of the season will be the Trojans’ second to last regular season game. They will go on the road to face the No. 3 Bethel Pilots on October 26th, who made the NAIA National Championship Quarterfinals last season. Despite a daunting schedule, the team is excited for the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the nation.
“I think I'm definitely very excited for conference play,” Lawrence said. “That's kind of a given, but I think that it's going to give us the opportunity to play against the best competition that we can and when you have those opportunities, you get to really see what you're made of.”
The Trojans are ready to get their hands dirty in what ought to be some tough and gritty games against conference rivals. The team expects to finish toward the top of the CL, going head-to-head with the toughest teams in the area.
“I would say I definitely want to finish on the upper end of the conference. I know we’ve struggled with that before, but we've got a really good group of guys this year,” Shaw said.
This year’s men’s soccer team has had massive improvements all around. The team is playing with confidence and securing early season wins has only improved it further.
From the seniors to the freshmen, the team is well-bonded and plays together as one unit with a single goal. They expect to compete with the top in the conference, something that will be exciting to see play out.
