Playing Division I soccer was always a goal for Taylor Addison, but not one she always thought she would reach. The Cardinal Spellman star suffered a torn ACL that cost her nearly her entire sophomore season and made her wonder if that would hold her back from playing at that level.
“I had my doubts,” she said. “I didn’t think I was good enough because of it. Obviously I proved myself enough.”
Addison made history last week becoming the first girls soccer player in Pilots history to head to a Division I program, verbally committing to Delaware State. Addison chose the Great West Conference school over Division II Lincoln College.
“It is overwhelming, I’m not going to lie, but it also is an honor, Addison said. “I never thought that was going to happen for me.”
The sure-footed forward, who played her club ball with the Riverdale Panthers, checked out the school over the summer, went on an official visit Jan. 3 and felt right at home. Addison, an All-Bronx first team selection by The Post, called head coach Nitan Soni, his staff, the players and the people at the university inviting. She is looking to study psychology and got to speak with one of the professors in that field and left impressed.
“When I met with the coach, he sealed the deal because he was so nice,” Addison said. “Whatever I had a question for he had an answer for. It’s a Division I school. He gave me everything that the school offered. I was like, ‘This is such an amazing school.'”
Sealing the deal on the field is something she’s extremely good at. Addison was one of the city’s most prolific scorers playing in CHSAA Bronx/Westchester. Last season she tallied 36 goals and dished out 13 assists helping to lead the Pilots back to the playoffs. Addison found the back of the net 107 times in her four-year career and five- and six-goal games were not uncommon.
“She enjoys winning,” Spellman coach Mel Brown said. “It’s her composure when she gets in front of that goal. It’s just like a natural.”
He lauded the super athletic Addison’s work ethic to recover from her injury and never saw her favoring it this season. Brown is pleased that such “a special player” is the school’s first Division I girls soccer competitor. He believes Addison will play a major role for a Delaware State team that went 2-15-2 overall and 1-4-1 in conference.
“At Delaware she is really going to elevate that team to the next level,” Brown said.
Addison has already reached one level she was striving for and made history in the process.
“Being able to go Division I that’s what makes it so much more [special],” Addison said. “Knowing that I was injured and to come back and be on my feet like this like nothing was ever wrong, I didn’t think it would honestly be possible.”