Seventy unforgettable minutes changed a 14-year-old dream into exquisite reality for former James River High School field hockey standout Shannon Taylor.
Taylor collected crucial playing time at striker and scored a key goal for the U.S. women's national team in Friday's stunning 4-2 victory over Argentina, the world's No. 1-ranked team, in the Pan American Games championship match. The triumph assured the Americans of a berth in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
"You can talk to almost anyone I grew up with," Taylor said. "From the time I was very young — still in middle school, I'd say — I knew field hockey was what I wanted to do with my life and I knew the Olympics was the thing I wanted most to do in field hockey."
She said it is difficult to comprehend that she will be marching into London's Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies in little less than nine months.
"I always set high goals for myself and (the Olympics) is pretty much the highest goal possible" in competitive field hockey, she said. "That's what you shoot for. That's what you imagine yourself doing. To think that we've actually done it, it's amazing. I think we're all still a little giddy. To be honest, I don't think it's really sunk in yet."
Argentina had captured the gold medal in each of the six previous Pan Am Games competitions. This Argentine club seemed all but invulnerable. It won its first four matches of the 2011 Pan Am tournament, played in Guadalajara, Mexico, by a combined score of 41-3.
But the Americans, young, talented and plucky, returned the behemoth's stare without blinking. Taylor's third goal of the Games gave the U.S. a 2-0 first-half lead. The Argentineans never recovered. More than a few observers regard Friday's victory as the most important in the history of the U.S. women's national team.
"Everything just seemed to fall into place," said Taylor, a prolific scorer as a collegian at the University of Richmond (2004-06) and Syracuse (2008). "We believed in ourselves. We had worked so hard to get there. We felt like it was just a question of going out and doing what we were capable of doing for 70 minutes."
Taylor said she and her teammates drew considerable motivation from the three letters — USA — on the front of their blue jerseys.
"It's an incredible feeling when you're playing for your country," she said. "It's something that, I don't know, it's hard to describe. It's so much bigger than playing for yourself or your high school or your college. It's a feeling that makes you want to give everything you have no matter what."
The Pan Am championship match was Taylor's 45th appearance with the women's national team. James River coach Slade Gormus was delighted but not surprised by her former star's success.
Gormus said Taylor's most formidable weapon is not physical skill but rather a competitive fire that cannot be doused.
"Skill and heart, what an amazing combination," Gormus said. "(Taylor) plays with such heart and so much passion that I think she believes anything is possible. Pretty soon it becomes contagious and her teammates and coaches start believing it, too."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement