This Virginia Tech women’s soccer season has been hard to define. The Hokies play in the most difficult conference, and did not qualify for the ACC tournament, yet they made the NCAA Tournament and will face West Virginia in the opening round. And a big reason why is Freshman midfielder Taylor Price.
Price, a Virginia native, has been everything the Hokies needed this season, taking over as the playmaking, central attacking midfielder for Emily Gray, who was drafted third overall to the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL in 2022.
The freshman posted a stat line of eight goals and three assists, totaling 19 points. Price paced the team in goals, and was tied for third in assists.
One of Price’s best qualities is her prowess near the net, which she describes as a mixture of “chemistry, adjusting to the speed of play, and hard work.”
However, Price did more for the team than just put up numbers, claims team leader Tori Powell.
“Amazing,” said Powell regarding the play of Price thus far.
“I’ve said this a million times, I’ll say it again, it is just so fun to play with her. We work so well together…and it’s pretty impressive to have just a year under our belts together,” said Powell.
So, with Price building chemistry with arguably the most impactful player that Tech has, where do they go from here?
To answer that, the sky's the limit for Price, but she is remaining humble.
“I owe it all [Price’s success thus far] to my teammates. Honestly, I wouldn’t be in this position without the support from them…it’s made me comfortable and allowed me to just play my game,” said Price.
While she may be modest, she does get the recognition she deserves, being ranked as the number five freshman in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. Additionally, Price has been named to the All-ACC Freshman and Third teams, which is remarkable for a freshman given the talent in the Atlantic Coastal Conference.
One of her biggest fans throughout this freshman campaign has been head coach Chugger Adair.
“They’re [Price and fellow freshman Natalie Mitchell] both committed to scoring goals, committed to attacking, and I think going forward that’s something that you have to be,” said Adair.
But Adair treats Price just like the rest of the team, no matter how bright the star is beginning to shine.
“We view her as a piece of our team, just like everybody else, and we hope that she can continue to contribute and grow and be dangerous going forward,” said the coach when asked if he viewed Price as a centerpiece of the future.
With a long career ahead of her, time will tell if Taylor Price can go down as one of the Hokie greats, and maybe bring some hardware to Blacksburg. Early signs are that she has the potential to do just that and put herself among the great Hokies.
