The last line of defense for the Mississippi State soccer team also happens to be one of its most vocal and confident players.
Junior goalkeeper Taryn Holland has been the unquestioned No. 1 between the posts for the Bulldogs for the last two years after splitting time her freshman year with then-senior Stephanie Dells.
In fact, following last weekend’s games against Georgia and Tennessee, Holland currently stands second all time at MSU in total saves with 259, just 30 behind Kirsten Olson, MSU’s goalkeeper from 1998-2000.
“I’d love to be in the record books and be No. 1,” Holland said, shocked how close she currently is to these records. “Also, I would love to go into games and not get any shots on me. I don’t care about records or anything like that. I just don’t want to pick the ball out of the back of the net. That is my goal.”
Holland is also approaching the record for most minutes by a goalkeeper. As she has played every minute of every Bulldog outing this season and the lion’s share of last season’s minutes, Holland stands to pass Olson as the Bulldogs’ all time leader in playing time for a goalkeeper.
Holland is ready to keep things in perspective as she moves to the top of nearly every MSU goalkeeping record.
“I’m not really big on records. It doesn’t really say a lot. Emily Myers was a really good goalkeeper but she was a field player first. She could have had as many minutes as me if she had started there,” Holland said. “I like that I am going to get in the record books. That’s awesome, but I don’t look into it.”
Holland has never been one to harbor an injury. In fact that is one of her major strengths, as early this season the Bulldogs were hit with major injuries including a season-ending ACL tear to freshman goalkeeper Skylar Rosson.
“I have never broken a bone. The worst injury I ever had was twisting an ankle. I am very lucky about not getting any major injuries,” she said. “If I am ever injured in the game I dont think about it unless it really hurts or I land on it. I am pretty good at blocking that out.”
One such injury has pestered Holland over the last two weekends as she has played through the pain of a bruised bone while no one has noticed any drop off in her level of play.
Holland hasn’t always played goalkeeper. Trained as a midfielder until sixth grade, Holland’s height and athleticism poised her as a prime candidate for the swap to the last line of defense.
“I wasn’t on a very strong travel soccer team and I didn’t think I was going to make the middle school team. They asked me to play goalkeeper and I ended up playing goalkeeper,” Holland said. “My eighth-grade year I tried out again for goalkeeper and I ended up beating the starting goalkeeper.”
Holland has excelled at the position ever since.
“I still have a little regret, because I feel like I could have been a good field player,” Holland said.
She said she primarily trained herself, mosyly by facing a lot of shots.
“We weren’t a very strong team,” Holland said. “So I had a ton of shots on me and I learned really quickly how to play goalie.”
Holland got her first SEC minutes in the second half of State’s sensational 2006 win over No. 8 Tennessee. State held a slim lead when Holland came on to replace Dells, and it was up to the Bulldog defense to stop the Vols’ comeback.
“That was amazing because we hadn’t won a lot of games and Tennessee are one of the top ranked programs in the SEC and I got to finally play my first SEC game,” Holland said.
A new challenge was proposed to the goalkeeper when MSU signed the talented Rosson as another goalkeeper option.
“Coach had told me that I need to keep my game strong,” Holland said. “She is a really strong player who won state championships.”
Holland said the two goalkeepers had a mutual respect for each other, and each had a team-first attitude about the competition for the number-one spot.
As Holland prepares for the rest of the season, she also looks forward to her senior year next season.
“First of all, we should be a really strong team. We have a lot of home games,” she said. “I love home games because I love to see the crowd come out for us.”
Holland is also excited about next season’s road slate, which includes three matches in her home state of Tennessee.
Perhaps also next season, Holland will finish her assault on the Mississippi State and SEC record books and place her name among the all time program greats.