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Siena Soccer’s Star Goalie

Taylor Dorado has been protecting the goal for 10 years. She knows a thing or two about saving shots and being a major contender in helping her team win games. The field players can assist all they want, but once the opponent shoots at the net, it is all up to Taylor.

And Taylor protects the goal exceptionally well, this year alone she has earned three MAAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. In her three years being on the team so far, she has received this title seven times. Also, she was nationally nominated last month for Hero Sports Soccer’s goalie of the week. During recent games, Taylor has completely shut out the other opponent, and is ranked 2nd in MAAC goalies but is also ranked 13th out of all the women’s soccer goalies in the country. On the field, Taylor is definitely in control of her game.

While Taylor is not saving every goal being shot at her, she attends classes and is also a normal college student. She is majoring in psychology, and when she graduates she is looking to pursue physical therapy. Specifically, Taylor wants to help other athletes like herself get through their injuries and recover fully from them. So when Taylor is off the field, you can usually find her in the Standish library doing work for the next day.

Being a psychology major, this semester Taylor is taking Health Psychology and Lifespan Development. Both being 200-level classes, they demand much of Taylor’s time. Even though the women’s soccer season does not look long on paper, the team plays over 20 games in two months. Every weekend is filled with games against conference and non-conference opponents. Taylor admits that one of the hardest things about playing soccer is that they miss a lot of classes for games. Despite having games on the weekends, the soccer team frequently plays on Wednesday afternoons. When games start at 2 or 3 o’clock, players often have to miss class so they can either travel to the game or head down to the Siena fields to meet their opponent. If the team travels for a Wednesday game, they often leave the day before which can lead to more classes being missed.

Along with taking psychology-intensive courses, Taylor has to take General Physics and other science classes to earn her degree. Taking General Physics this fall, missing one of these classes because of soccer can make future classes much harder. Also, soccer has made Taylor miss Physics labs, which she then has to make up on her own time.

One of the things that keeps Taylor motivated during the season is her team. She states that her Siena team is what makes soccer still enjoyable after a decade of playing. The atmosphere that the team has in the locker room, during practice, and before and after games is what keeps Taylor getting up in the morning for practice and having the right attitude during games.

Being recognized for her accomplishments Taylor admits is rewarding, but she is just glad that this season she has helped her team to a 4-1-2 record in the MAAC. Getting the ball past her at conference championships will be a serious challenge for other teams. With all of Taylor’s achievements on and off the field, it is easy to see why she is a perfect example of a student-athlete.