Healthy Taylor Gives Irvine Reason for High Hopes

The high school soccer community was beginning to discover what club soccer people already knew: Irvine High’s Matt Taylor was something special. Taylor had scored 12 goals--most in spectacular fashion--in his team’s first nine games.

But just as Taylor and his team were emerging, he was injured. Irvine was playing Saddleback for third place in the Mustang Holiday Classic at Trabuco Hills, and Taylor was making Saddleback’s defenders look silly. He weaved his way through four players and then past a fifth.

Or so he thought.

As Taylor closed in on the goalkeeper, he was tackled from behind.

“I felt a kick to my left foot and then a twist as I fell,” Taylor said.

Taylor tried to ignore the injury as he pleaded with Coach Rich Breza to let him return to the game. But two weeks later, he learned the pain he was feeling was from a broken bone in his foot.

Without its star, Irvine dropped out of the Orange County top 10 rankings and missed the playoffs. Taylor missed six months of competitive soccer and a chance to play for the state Olympic Development Program and compete for a spot on the under-19 U.S National team.

“It was going so well for me,” Taylor said. “I was peaking. That was a pretty hard time for me.”

But the hard times appear to be in the past. Taylor recently committed to UCLA and he is beginning to resemble the Matt Taylor of a year ago.

“I still don’t have all the quickness,” he said. “But I’ve started to pick it up.”

Breza, who is still angry about what he called the “questionable tackle” that caused Taylor’s injury, said he can tell Taylor is not quite all the way back.

“Maybe he’s 90%, but Matt Taylor at 90% is still unbelievable,” said Breza, who has played indoor soccer with the Anaheim Splash and outdoor with the Orange County Zodiac.

Taylor thought he could return to the field by spring. But his broken bone wouldn’t heal on its own, so he had to have surgery in late March and that delayed his comeback another two months. Through it all, UCLA stayed with Taylor and offered him a scholarship over the summer.

Taylor decided last month that he didn’t want to waste anyone else’s time, so he announced he would attend UCLA.

“It’s a lot off my back,” he said. “Now, I can concentrate on the season. It seems like all that other stuff is behind me now.”

What’s ahead? Nobody really knows. But Eddie Soto, Taylor’s club coach with the Irvine Strikers, has a guess.

“He’s one of the best goal scorers I’ve seen in a long time,” said Soto, who played in the MLS and is currently with the A-League Orange County Zodiac. “He’s going to have a bright future. As soon as he gets the ball into his third of the field, he’s going to put it in the back of the net about 80% of the time.”

And usually with some flair.

“You don’t see Matt getting the garbage goals,” Breza said. “Usually when he scores, it’s pretty special and he’s created it by his own work.”

Taylor is hoping to help create a playoff season for a senior-dominated Irvine team.

“I’m pretty sure we can win the [Sea View] league,” said Taylor, who has four Strikers’ teammates on his high school team. “I think we’re a lot tougher, older and stronger than last year.”

Even though Taylor has made his name and developed his skills at the club level, he considers high school soccer more enjoyable.

“You play with your friends and in front of your people in high school,” said Taylor, who played football until his sophomore season. “Club players are a lot more skilled, but it’s not as much fun.”

The fun part for Breza will be deciding where he will play Taylor--at forward, his natural position, or in the midfield.

“He’s impossible to mark if you play him in the midfield,” Breza said. “But if I play him up front, he’s only got one or two guys to beat once he gets the ball. Either way, he’s trouble for the other team.”

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Top players: Steve Adams (Foothill), defender, Jr., second team Division II; Josh Alexander (Brea Olinda), forward, Sr., Orange League MVP, 19 goals, 19 assists; Roy Chingarian (Woodbridge), forward, So., first team All-Sea View; David Chun (Woodbridge), midfielder, So., second team All-Sea View, under-17 national team; Ignacio Cid (El Dorado), forward, Sr., Empire League MVP, school record 27 goals; Darren Doi (Laguna Hills), forward, Sr., 12 goals, five assists, first team All-Pacific Coast; Sebastian Galmarini (Santa Margarita), forward, Sr., 18 goals and 10 assists, first team All-Southern Section Division III; Stephen Gray (Kennedy), goalkeeper, Sr., Empire League Defensive MVP; Spencer George (Santa Margarita), midfielder, Sr., first team Times all-county and first team all-section Division III, 10 goals and 20 assists; Jordan Harvey (Capistrano Valley), midfielder, So., under-16 national team; Devin Kato (Edison), forward, Sr., first team All-Sunset; Matt Kubota (Servite), forward, Sr., first team All-Golden West, 15 assists; Jeff Kunze (Edison), defender, Sr., first team Times all-county, defensive MVP of Sunset League; Israel Leon (Santa Ana), midfielder, Sr., first team All-Golden West; Edgar Lopez (Saddleback), midfielder, Sr., second team All-Golden West; Sem Lopez (El Toro), forward, Sr., second team All-South Coast; Rawlston Masaniai (Mater Dei), defender, Jr., second team All-South Coast; Drew McAthy (Huntington Beach), defender, Jr., first team All-Sunset League, second team Times all-county; Cliff McKinley (Fountain Valley), forward, Sr.; 34 career goals; Zach Mikelson (Capistrano Valley), goalkeeper, Jr., second team All-South Coast; Carlos Nava (Santa Ana), midfielder, Sr., first team Times all-county, 15 goals and eight assists; Kevin Novak (Mater Dei), midfielder, Sr., second team All-South Coast; David Tankersly (Orange Lutheran), defender, Sr., defensive MVP of Division V, second team Times all-county; Matt Taylor (Irvine), forward, Sr., 12 goals, committed to UCLA; James Towers (Servite), goalkeeper, So., 12 shutouts, first team All-Division III.