A Life in Soccer: Taylor Curtis
Taylor Curtis is a mainstay at Knoles Field, whether it's with the University of the Pacific or the Stockton Cargo.
Taylor Curtis is a name that has quickly become prevalent in the Central Valley’s soccer scene. As a key player for both the University of the Pacific Tigers and the USL W’s Stockton Cargo during the summer, she’s become a mainstay at Knoles Field year-round. I sat down with Curtis following Pacific’s game against the Cal Poly Mustangs on September 1 and discussed the season so far, as well as her time with the Cargo.
Early Days at Pacific
Curtis started her collegiate soccer career with Folsom Lake College where she dominated. As a freshman, she scored 10 goals, including two game-winning goals, and assisted on 13 others in just 22 games with the Falcons. Ahead of the 2022 season, Curtis transferred to Pacific. She ultimately credits the decision to the coaching staff and Pacific’s style of play. “It was definitely the coaching staff. The way they play is just really fun. I like to pass the ball, and that's what they do. We try to build out and create opportunities by crossing the ball in the box or just getting the ball, not just kicking it. The campus is beautiful, and the group of girls I'm around are special. We are a positive group. Always trying to be positive even when we're down or we lose. We're always trying to find ways to push ourselves even off the field.”
Curtis made her debut for the team against Long Beach State University, coming in as a substitute and playing a total of 25 minutes. Unfortunately, an injury would cut her season short after just that single appearance. She returned for the 2023 season, where she saw significantly more playing time. She appeared in 19 games and scored her first goal with the Tigers against Gonzaga on October 18. Three days later when Pacific went on the road to visit Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, she had another first, getting her first start with the team.
A Rough Start
Now, Curtis is in the middle of her fifth year and still has another year of athletic eligibility. She’s taken on a much more important role with the team, as co-head coaches Danesha Adams and J.J. Wosniak have had her in the starting eleven in every match to this point. The North Highlands native scored the game-winning goal for Pacific in their season opener against Houston Christian on a night where she kept finding the ball at her feet. She recorded a total of six shots in that contest, two of which were on target and of course, one of those found the netting.
Heading into the season, Curtis’s personal goals were simple. She wanted to score five goals in preseason, then five more in conference play.
Pacific has struggled since their opening night victory, but after the 2-0 loss to Cal Poly just over a week ago, Curtis was optimistic about the remainder of the team’s season stating, “We just need to find ways to figure out how to grow, get better and just find grittiness to win games. That's the goal of the game, is to win games, and we have yet to do that. The coaches are always working, trying to find ways, and we're always spending endless hours at practice trying to get better and be ready for conference, at least win some games in conference, and do what we need to do. We are good enough and capable of doing something big for Pacific, something that obviously no coaches and no players have done yet.”
Since that night, the Tigers went on a road trip to Utah where they tied 1-1 with Weber State then had a rough night against Utah State who are currently ranked 11th in the nation. In the matchup against Weber State, Curtis played a season-high 70 minutes. Luckily for Pacific though, they have a few games remaining to get things on the right track ahead of their West Coast Conference matchups which will start September 28th against Loyola Marymount University.
In the minds of Pacific’s players, the goal is simple. They want to win every single game, which seems obvious but when things get tough, players can easily get in their own heads and give up. Curtis says that won’t be happening to the Tigers though, “We haven't given up. We won't be giving up. There's so much time left we have 15 more games to try to win all of those. That's our goal. It is to win every single game and just put in all the effort we can. We have people who are currently running after the game because they want to get better, want to create opportunities for us, and help make an impact when they come in. We want to win games and do what we have to do because that's part of the game, and that's part of college soccer, is to win the games and go to the tournament. We're trying to figure that out and we have time.”
Cargo’s Impact
When asked about her time with the Cargo over the summer, the first thing Curtis mentioned was how much it helped her fitness heading into Pacific’s season. “I haven't been this fit in a very long time, and I feel like just playing with Cargo had made me fitter, I've definitely been playing faster. The girls brought me up, Adrienne brought me up, the environment was really good for me, and I would recommend it to anybody just go play out for a summer team that is really competitive and really trying to build something. I just tried to bring that energy here at Pacific, and I feel like I'm trying my best to do that.”
Curtis then went on to mention the effects that playing with former professional players like Bri Visalli and Hannah Diaz. “They're competitive. They don't like to lose and I feel like I've gained that myself. I hate losing so much, and they're just so competitive. I feel like I've gotten more competitive being around those people because they've played at the highest level. They brought that to Cargo and I'm trying to bring that here with my team because we're younger, but we do have like four or five seniors, and I'm trying to show them, this is what we need every day, a good environment, and to be competitive and bring it every single day we step on the field.”
Despite facing an intense amount of adversity early in the season, it’s clear that Curtis and her teammates aren’t letting that stop them from doing whatever it takes to turn things around and get back on the right track. Maintaining that positive mindset will undoubtedly be key for them, especially when they get into conference play. Soccer is a game where nothing is guaranteed, any team can beat any opposition on any night. If the Tigers keep their heads up and keep working hard, as Curtis said there’s still plenty of time for them to get where they want to be.
