Center Grove junior Taylor Wert is the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year in girls soccer.
Daily Journal file photo
Taylor Wert has shown an ability to adapt pretty well to any situation on a soccer field, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when she and her Center Grove teammates transitioned almost seamlessly through an offseason coaching change.
In their first season under new coach Myron Vaughn, the Trojans spent the entire year ranked in the state’s top 10 and advanced to a Class 3A semistate for the first time in four years.
“Things fell into place pretty quickly,” Wert said.
The junior midfielder was one of the main reasons why things went so well for Center Grove this fall. Wert was the straw that stirred the Trojans’ drink offensively, and she is the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year.
Wert finished the season with a team-high 14 assists while also scoring seven goals. She moved up into an attacking midfielder spot this year and very much relished her role as the table-setter for her squad.
“That’s definitely something that I enjoy about playing the 10 in the midfield,” Wert said. “I feel like the biggest role is to distribute and set up other players in a position to be able to score, and just being able to create opportunities for our team as a whole.
“(And) moving up a little bit, I also was able to create more opportunities for myself.”
Five of Wert’s assists came during Center Grove’s postseason run, with two of them (and a goal) coming in the sectional final rout of Terre Haute South. She helped the Trojans win a regional for the first time since 2018.
The season came to an end with a 1-0 semistate loss to Carmel — one that Wert believes will serve as a motivating fuel for herself and the other returning players heading into 2023. She doesn’t see the team, which finished this season with a 17-3-2 record, as being too far away from taking that last step and reaching the title game.
“Just continuing to improve and build on what we’ve already worked on and executed this year,” she said. “We had a really solid defense and keeper in the back — they went seven games straight without getting scored on — and there were only two games throughout the entire season that we didn’t score, so I think just continuing to build on our style of play, continuing to improve that, is really just going to be the final key for us.
Also working in Wert’s favor will be the fact that she’ll be able to play without any stress about her future. In October, she verbally committed to play collegiate soccer at Mercer University, a Division I school located in Macon, Georgia.
After connecting with the Bears’ coaches this past summer while playing in a national tournament for her club team, FC Pride Elite, Wert took a visit to the campus.
“I just loved it and I just knew that it was the right fit for me,” she said. “I’m really excited about that.”
Center Grove is equally excited to have her back for one more season in the meantime.
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
The 2022 All-County team for girls soccer:
Brooklyn Brown, Center Grove sophomore: Played a major role in the midfield for a Trojans team that advanced to the Class 3A semistate… Contributed four goals and an assist.
Izzy Cameron, Greenwood Christian junior: Set the table for the Cougars offensively with 25 assists, tied for fourth in the state…Also scored five goals on the year.
Addie Crowe, Center Grove sophomore: Earned honorable mention ISCA All-State listing for her starring role on a Trojan defense that yielded just 19 goals all season.
Emma Gill, Whiteland junior: Led the Warriors with 18 goals and added three assists for a 10-win Warriors team… An All-Mid-State Conference performer.
Emily Karr, Center Grove senior: A third-team ISCA All-State selection … Scored a team-high 13 goals and contributed three assists … Signed with the University of Evansville.
Alexa LaPorte, Whiteland junior: Earned all-conference honors after serving as the Warriors’ top offensive playmaker… Finished the season with 10 goals and nine assists.
Emily Metzger, Greenwood senior: A four-time All-County player who also repeated as an all-league pick after totaling 19 goals and eight assists for the Woodmen.
Kylie Smith, Center Grove junior: Anchored a Trojan defense that posted 13 shutouts, including seven in a row, on the way to a 3A regional championship.
Molly Tapak, Center Grove senior: One of the team’s top all-around offensive performers… Finished with seven goals and four assists out of the midfield.
Izzy Traut, Franklin sophomore: Scored five goals and added three assists while serving as a centerpiece of the Grizzly Cubs’ rebuilding effort.
Taylor Wert, Center Grove junior: Set the table all season for the Trojans, dishing out a team-best 14 assists and scoring seven goals… An honorable mention All-State pick.
Bre Wheatley, Greenwood sophomore: Allowed just 19 goals while making 101 saves, including a pair of penalty kicks… An all-conference pick who posted six shutouts.
Honorable mention
Haley Achs, Whiteland; Erica Buening, Franklin; Allie Curlee, GCA; Kendyl Farmer, Greenwood; Madison Fleury, Whiteland; McKinley Garrett, Whiteland; Sophia Gorall, Center Grove; Addie Jolley, GCA; McKenna Martin, Greenwood; Grace Scudder, Whiteland; Sydney Waldron, GCA; Ali Wiesmann, Center Grove; Emma Williams, Franklin; Joelle Young, Greenwood