By Grace Green

Senior WHS soccer goalie Chelsea Taylor’s final season of playing soccer at WHS has been anything but normal. During her club season last spring Taylor suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and left her on the sidelines this fall.

Taylor wore a brace last spring and was able to play through the rest of her club season and even made it to the national semifinals. However over the summer, she underwent surgery to fix the tear in her left shoulder and has spent this fall recovering and training.

While she has been unable to practice and play on the Rangers girl soccer team this past season, she has continued to support them as one of the team’s three co-captains. She shared that “being on the sidelines made me think a little bit about what my role would have to be to contribute to the team’s success, but Claire, Skyler, and I worked well together to keep the machine running.”

She got some playing time in this season as a forward on senior day. Taylor commented on the game saying that “it was a lot of fun considering that it was the complete opposite of my actual position. I really enjoying having the opportunity to play as a Ranger one last time. It felt pretty good, both physically and mentally, to step on the turf one last time.”

While the Rangers season ended after losing to Marlborough in the quarterfinals last week, Taylor will continue to play on her club team this coming winter and spring in preparation to play in college. She is committed to Williams College and is looking forward to the opportunity  what next fall will bring for her.

While her injury kept her off the field, Taylor says, “It taught me to cherish every moment I have to practice and play, because at some point it will come to an end.”

Photo by Kelly Burneson Photography