Versatile captain leads 49ers

A year-and-a-half ago, the loss of four senior defenders forced Taylor Nelson into unfamiliar territory. Long Beach State women’s soccer coach Mauricio Ingrassia didn’t want a defensive back line of all freshmen, so he trusted Nelson to be a leader when he needed her most.

After being a center midfielder her entire career, including her first two years at LBSU, Taylor Nelson said she wasn’t too thrilled about moving to a position she never played before.

“When he brought it up to me, I thought he was joking,” Nelson said. “So I kind of laughed and didn’t pay attention. In club, my coach tried me at defender, and it was terrible. I just couldn’t do it at all.”

Ingrassia said Nelson adapted well to the new position.

“She was stellar,” Ingrassia said. “She became a leader. I knew it would be a transition, but she’s very smart, very athletic.”

Nelson’s journey from being an attacking midfielder to earning All-Big West honors as a defender started when she began playing at five years old.

“I started really young because of my sister,” Nelson said. “She’s two years older than me, so I got a head start when she started.”

The 49ers began recruiting Nelson her sophomore year of high school, but they didn’t make a great first impression.

“She made her first visit in 2009,” Ingrassia said. “It was a game against Pacific. She sat on the bench with us. It was an official visit day. We actually didn’t play very well, and I thought we might not get her.”

The week of her decision, Nelson, then a junior, made an official visit to Pepperdine and was offered a scholarship. She then made her second visit to LBSU, where Ingrassia gave her two days to accept the scholarship offer. Nelson said she understood, but called it one of the most stressful weeks of her life.

Ingrassia’s persistence and the opportunities the school provided ultimately swayed Nelson’s decision. She said playing close to her hometown in nearby Garden Grove didn’t hurt either.

“I first wanted to be a nurse, so the nursing program here was unbelievable,” Nelson said. “But it didn’t work out with my soccer schedule. The teaching program here is unbelievable too. I think it’s just all the opportunities I had in front of me that I could capitalize on.”

Nelson said her parents played a major role in her decision.

“I was kind of leaning towards Pepperdine,” Nelson said. “It’s a bigger name school, bigger facilities, things like that but [my parents] kind of brought me down to earth. It’s nice to go to a big-name school, but it’s not always what’s important.”

She started 18 games and played in a total of 25, scoring a goal and assisting on four others. As a freshman, she helped the 49er team advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Now a senior, she is the captain of the 49ers team, which has been ranked in the NCAA top-25 for most of the season. Nelson said she plans to continue her soccer career after college, hoping to travel overseas and catch on with a European club.

“I just feel like the soccer culture in Europe is so much different than it is here,” Nelson said. “I think it’d be really cool to experience it and go play for a little bit.”

While the 49ers haven’t met their expectations since reaching the Elite Eight in 2011, Nelson said she feels like some of the struggles of the last few years have helped her develop as a player and a person.

“You have to know how to get out of the slumps when you’re down,” Nelson said. “When your season’s not going the right way, you can’t just give up. It’s not how I’ve wanted it to go the last couple years, my sophomore and junior year, but I think it was great learning experience as a player and as a member of the team and the captain.”