Soccer
Favorite athlete: Tim Tebow, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring a header goal off of my teammate’s free kick.
Most embarrassing/funnies thing that has happened while competing in sports: A girl on my team knocked over the ref while trying to win a fifty-fifty ball from another player close by him.
Music on iPod: Lecrae, Casting Crowns, Sanctus Real
Future plans: Attend Temple University to study physical therapy and play Division One soccer
Words to live: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” –Philippians 4:13
One goal before turning 30: Go on mission trips to spread God’s message and love to Africa, India and Asia.
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to act and be on stage.
Taylor Matsinger’s soccer career at Central Bucks South started out with a limp. It was her knee, her nagging left knee, that caused all the problems. This was back when the high school girls soccer season was still in the spring, and her life changed during the preseason winter club session. That’s when she tore cartilage in that knee.
“Initially I was pretty upset,” said Matsinger, now a senior, “but I believe everything happens for a reason.”
Matsinger underwent surgery and five months of rehab. She spent her freshman year cheering from the sideline, watching as the Titans won a district championship.
But her ordeal wasn’t over.
The surgery and rehab didn’t take, and that summer she had to have a second surgery and do another month of rehab before she was finally healthy again. As difficult as the experience was, with the setbacks and the grueling rehabilitation process, it would have been enough to get a lot of people down, especially a kid.
But Matsinger’s faith helped get her through.
“It really helped me come back stronger, after you get over the initial blow,” she said. “It doesn’t have any effect on me now.”
Matsinger, a center midfielder who was also a team co-captain, went on become part of CB South’s continued success and growth as a program. She helped lead the Titans to three playoff appearances, including a pair of state berths.
“She got better every year after she was injured,” South coach Joe Bocklet said. “She’s a great student athlete. She’s had a lot of success off the field and in the classroom. She’s a great role model for the rest of the team.”
Matsinger is a National Merit Scholar. She is a member of student council, and she is taking four Advanced Placement courses this year after taking two last year. She already committed to Temple University in April, as a junior.
“On the field, during huddles and at practice and at halftimes, she always took leadership roles,” Bocklet said. “She was always one of our most consistent players and very productive. With her and the other co-captains, the team never wavered, never gave up in games.
“She was always very committed,” Bocklet said. “I remember seeing her in the gym when she was 12 or 13 with her dad. And when she was part of the team, all through camp, we’d be up at 6 a.m. I can remember, almost daily, she would thank me and the coaching staff for the practice session. She’s a really sweet girl, and really appreciative.”
It was the summer before starting high school, before that tough freshman year, when Matsinger found her faith.
“I was raised in a Christian family but I didn’t always know God in my heart,” she said. “Then I found out what it means to have my own relationship with God. We had recently joined a new church, and my cousin took me to the youth group. We had a really awesome pastor and a great group of students to go on fellowship with.
“The way God has changed my life is amazing,” she said. “My relationship with Him is the most important thing in my life. I don’t find popularity as important. I know what has meaning. My identity and future are rooted in God.”
Through her church, Matsinger is heavily involved in community outreach. After Hurricane Sandy, for instance, her church group generated donations of a thousand pounds of chicken, cooked it, packaged it with bread and other food, and delivered it to people in the area who were without power.
“It’s awesome how Christ calls us to serve,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a better feeling than helping out someone in need, or even just making someone smile.”
It also was her faith that led her to Temple, which actually heard about her and initially sought her out. At the time, she was considering Northeastern University in Boston and Washington University in St. Louis, among other institutions. And there was no hurry for her to make a decision.
“I started the process pretty early,” Matsinger said. “I was encouraged by club coaches to get a sense of it.
“I had really been praying about where God wanted me,” she said. “I was in church on a Sunday morning, and we were singing this song about His city, and I just started thinking about Philadelphia and spreading His kingdom here at home. I got the feeling God wanted me to stay here. Initially, I thought I’d go see a new place.”
Matsinger, whose favorite subjects include science and English, plans to major in kinesiology at Temple and pursue an accelerated doctorate program in physical therapy.
Meanwhile, she is proud of her time at CB South.
“I love every girl I’ve played with,” she said. “I feel honored to have worked with a great coaching staff and been part of building a program at a relatively new school. I’m blessed to be part of that legacy.”
Bocklet was quick to point out Matsinger’s contributions.
“Over the last five or six years, it’s been a really strong program, and we’ve had 10 girls graduate each of the last three years,” he said. “She’s been able to bridge that focus and leadership. It can be difficult for a girls’ team to buy into each other and not have that sidebar click stuff. But this group has done it and she’s been a big reason for it.”
After two seasons in states, this year was one of comebacks for the Titans. In five of their last six games, they were down and came back to either win or tie. In the opening round of playoffs, they were down 1-0 at halftime and eventually won on penalty kicks. In the second round, they were trailing 2-0 before tying the game, only to fall in the final 20 seconds.
The Titans, led by Taylor Matsinger, were indeed the comeback kids. It is only fitting, considering that she knows a little something about comebacks herself.
