Goal scorers like senior Taylor Brown don’t come to Athens very often, but when they do, they seem to come in bunches.
Of Ohio’s top five all-time goal scorers, four played in the past decade, which coincidentally has been the most successful period in the program’s history. Each of those players has won at least one Mid-American Conference championship.
Brown is now third on the list, with 42 goals, and has two championships to her name. The success the team has seen with these goal scorers is no accident, said coach Neil Macmillan.
“The ultimate goal is winning MAC championships,” Macmillan said. “And if you’ve got someone who’s up there in the overall records, that usually puts you in a position to be successful in the MAC.”
Torrie Albini, a 2008 graduate whose goal scoring abilities earned her a spot on the United States national team, said that although the goals are great, they don’t mean anything if they don’t result in wins.
“Being second in an individual category such as career goals is an accomplishment I’m proud of,” Albini said in an email, “but it doesn’t compare to the pride I have in the two MAC championships the team won my junior and senior seasons. Goals are great, but wins are better.”
Brown said her goal scoring ability is the contribution she provides to a team that sets conference dominance as its primary goal each season.
“Just knowing that I can score goals and put the ball in the back of the net is a great feeling,” Brown said. “It’s one of my big skills, so knowing that I can do that and that I’m up there with some of the top players at Ohio is big to me.”
Ali Johnstone, who is fifth all-time and currently an assistant with Northwestern’s field hockey team, doesn’t consider herself a stats person or a great goal scorer. But, she said she feels that Brown’s playing style plays a big role in her ability to score.
“She doesn’t hold anything back,” Johnstone said. “She’s very patient and looks for her mark. She has a really good feel for how things work and hits the ball harder than anyone else I’ve seen in a very long time.”
Macmillan’s assessment of Brown is similar, but he doesn’t really feel that there is any one thing that makes a player a good goal scorer.
“I think if you could pin that (trait) down, people would be breeding goal scorers all over the place,” Macmillan said. “I think a lot of it is instinct, and (Brown) has a great instinct for the goal.”
Albini said it takes a certain confidence and determination to be successful at the net.
“I’ve found many great goal scorers to not be the prettiest players to watch in regards to skill,” she said. “But, their hunger and persistence in the circle is all consuming. Goal scorers have to have a short memory — moving on from the last shot — and believing they will score their next one.”
And as Brown continues to rise through Ohio’s all-time ranks and break old records, former players like Albini, Johnstone and fourth all-time goal scorer Liz Holtzman are happy to see their records broken. Macmillan sees it as progress for a team with high aspirations season after season.
“Everyone wants to see their records broken, because it means hopefully the program is moving on,” he said. “I’d like to see, over the course of time, all records falling with current players, because it means the current team is pushing the limits of what has been done in the past.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
