Taylor Nivala: Forward sheds shyness to lead in goals
Junior Taylor Nivala was known as the quiet one on the Coyote women’s soccer team for the past two years. She was shy, kept to herself and didn’t make much of an impression on or off the field.
But the forward is making noise her third season at the University of South Dakota (8-6-2, 1-2-2 Summit League). Nivala has scored eight goals this season, making her third in conference standings for leading scorer and first at USD for putting the ball in the back of the net.
USD head coach Mandy Green said she has seen the change in Nivala since the spring. Green has known Nivala since she was a standout in soccer and track and field at Andover High School just north of Minneapolis, Minn. The change this fall, Green said, is obvious.
“Something happened over the summer, and she came in and was vocal and aggressive,” Green said. “I don’t know if she feels that, as a junior, it’s her time and she’s going to do what she can. But she is definitely making us more dangerous.”
Nivala, who did not score a goal her first two seasons, said the difference is largely mental. She told herself to relax and play the game she wanted to play.
“I figured the goals and stuff will come if I just enjoy being on the field and being with my team,” she said.
USD is still fighting for a spot in the Summit League Tournament with three more matches left in the regular season. Nivala said the chemistry between players is the best it has been in her time at USD, and this will make a difference as the team approaches its final conference matchups.
Senior defender Kaiti Porter said Nivala is the most improved player she has seen on the women’s team.
“Off the field she was always extremely shy. And on the field, she couldn’t quite finish her opportunities,” Porter said. “Now she is one of the top in goal scoring, and she is talking all the time. Something’s really clicked.”
Nivala has a noticeable impact on the field because of her speed, but she never started soccer to be a game-changer. She just didn’t want to play another year of t-ball when she reached the first grade.
She, like her father Jedd Nivala and three younger brothers, took to the game at a young age and has since moved around from starting at midfield to defense to, finally, up front for the Coyotes.
[notification type=”grey” title=”Fun fact about Taylor Nivala”]Her favorite professional soccer team is Manchester United.[/notification]
Her transition, especially to the collegiate level, was not necessarily an easy one though. Nivala said her first year at USD was an eye-opening experience.
“Everyone is at the same level that you are at, but it’s a bigger and faster game,” she said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a wake-up call.”
An added stress includes her life as a student in USD’s pre-occupational therapy program with a major in health sciences and a minor in interdisciplinary sciences. Nivala’s parents are both nurses, which encouraged her to go into a related field, but she struggled at first to balance her student work with her obligations as a college athlete.
She said it was difficult being five hours away from home. The distance got easier, but Nivala said her mother Michelle Nivala still feels guilty when the family does not come to her games.
“I tell my mom it’s OK to miss a few games, that she doesn’t have to be at every one,” Nivala said. “I know she feels bad about it, but I hate the thought of them having to drive through the night to get home from watching me play.”
The forward said she has a ways to go to be more vocal on the field and in the classroom. She describes herself as the student who quietly sits in the back but is trying to come out of her shell as an upperclassman.
Junior midfielder Danielle Anderson has played alongside Nivala for the past three years and said the forward’s change is a matter of the forward “coming out of her bubble.”
“Taylor is a very shy person, but once you get her out of her comfort zone, she is so funny,” Anderson said. “She’s just a great asset to this team and a great player to have on your side of the field.”
(Photo: Junior forward Taylor Nivala fights for control of the ball during the Oct. 24 game against South Dakota State University. Nivala has scored eight goals this season, making her third in conference standings for leading scorer and first at USD for putting the ball in the back of the net. Malachi Petersen / The Volante)
