Taylor Kornieck (pronounced Core-knee-eck) is a professional soccer player who is a midfielder for the National Women’s Soccer League club San Diego Wave FC and the United States Women’s National Team.
She scored her first international goal at 18 while on the U-19 national team and was brought up to the US National Team in the summer of 2022.
Early Life Of Taylor Kornieck
Taylor Kornieck was born in Michigan in 1998 and grew up in Nevada. Her mom was a professional volleyball player, and her brother played basketball in college, so she had strong role models to follow as she began playing sports.
In 2015, while at Coronado High school, she was declared the NSCAA All-American after an amazing school record of 84 goals and 44 assists. As a senior, Kornieck scored 54 goals and had 12 assists, helping to lead the team to the Division 1 state championship finals.
After this, Kornieck received the Gatorade Player of the Year award for the state of Nevada.
In addition to all of her success in soccer, Taylor Kornieck was the outside hitter for the school volleyball team and the wide receiver for their flag football team. She also worked hard in the classroom, winning multiple scholar-athlete awards during high school.
Top Goalscorer
In addition to her school team, she participated in club play for San Diego Surf and the Las Vegas Premier ECNL teams. In 2015, Kornieck was ranked as the top scorer for the Southwest ECNL division and scored the third highest number of goals nationally.
That same year she was selected to participate in the ECNL/iD2 national camp and was honored with MVP. Moreover, Taylor Kornieck was a part of the Nevada Olympic Development Program, where she earned many honors, including being named as one of the Best XI and team captain. Later, she was chosen to be on the region IV ODP team.
College Career Of Taylor Kornieck
From 2016 to 2019, Kornieck attended the University of Colorado Boulder. The 6-foot 1-inch (184cm) midfielder was a starter for the Colorado Buffaloes all four years. Kornieck did it all while working to earn a degree in integrative physiology.
During her freshman season, in 22 games, she scored 11 goals. Even though she was only a freshman, she immediately earned a spot in CU’s school history record books. She received many awards in her first season with the school, including the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Award.
Sophomore And Junior Years
During Kornieck’s Sophomore year, she led the Buffaloes to the second round of the NCAA tournament, and she helped the Buffaloes break the school record for the number of shutouts.
During her junior year, despite missing four games due to an ankle injury, she still scored nine goals during 16 matches. Taylor Kornieck won the All-American award, the first time someone on the Buffaloes team had won that award since 2006.
As a senior, she once again led the team to the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished her school season with 12 goals and 6 assists. She was awarded the MVP, offensive MVP, and Buff Cup awards. The Buff Cup is given to the player with the most points accumulated from matches in the spring season.
When she graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, she was the program’s all time leader with 102 goals and 24 assists.
Taylor Kornieck Club Career
In January 2020, Kornieck was the third overall pick in the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) draft and signed a 1-year contract with Orlando Pride. Sadly, due to the Covid pandemic, the season had to be canceled.
In June, the NWSL created a smaller tournament for teams to compete. Although Orlando Pride was invited to join, they had to pull out because some staff and players tested positive for the virus.
In September 2020, Taylor Kornieck joined German Bundesliga MSV Duisburg on loan and played 11 matches. She started in her first game, and the German team defeated the competition 2 to 0. On November 14th, she scored her first goal with the team during a match that ended 5 to 3 against Werder Bremen.
Returning To Orlando Pride
In 2021, Kornieck returned to Orlando Pride. She made her debut for the professional NWSL team on April 20th, 2021, and she both started and scored in that game. She played in all four NWSL Challenge Cup matches for the Pride that year and contributed in 22 regular season games.
In January 2022, she was traded to the brand new NWSL team, San Diego Waves. She has contributed to this team’s impressive inaugural year. As of early August, the Waves are in first place in the NWSL standings. Taylor Kornieck was named as the NWSL Player of the Week for week 7, and she was also on the list of the NWSL Best XI for May and June of 2022.
International Career
In 2016, Kornieck made her first international appearance on the U-18 United States Women’s team.
She served as the captain, and although she was a strong contributor on the field, she did not score until the following year, 2017, when she was on the U-19 United States Women’s team.
This was her first international goal, scoring against England and helping her team defeat the competition 2-0.
In 2018, Kornieck was asked to participate in the La Manga U-20 tournament, but she had to decline the offer due to a recent injury.
Senior Debut For Taylor Kornieck
In June 2022, Taylor Kornieck was called to the United States Women’s National Team. She made her international debut and earned her first USWNT cap, on June 25th, 2022, during a friendly against Colombia.
She did not play in the first half, but in the 73rd minute, she was subbed in. In the 90th minute, Kornieck scored her first goal, with the team contributing to a 3 to 0 victory.
The Michigan-born soccer star was also a part of the Concacaf tournament roster in July. The US Women’s team earned 1st place, qualifying them for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Conclusion
Even though Taylor Kornieck is still young, the University Of Colorado graduate is an amazing soccer player who should be a role model for many. Her academic strength and athletic talent for her age are incredible, and she will play a massive role in the future of women’s soccer.
