Virginia Tech’s Taylor Price grateful to be back on soccer field

She tore the ACL and lateral meniscus in her right knee in a game against Boston College on Sept. 21, 2023.

“The hardest part is kind of finding yourself, your identity, not being an athlete for once,” Price recalled this week. “All you’ve ever known in your life is playing your sport. And when you kind of lose that, you have to really try to stay mentally strong and find other things to appreciate.

“(The rehab) is a really long process and it can be isolating and lonely at times, but I would say that taught me a lot and I would say I’m a better person and player because of it.”

The junior forward returned to action for preseason practice in July. She has made her mark on the 19th-ranked Hokies this season, leading the team in goals (six) and points (14). She also has two assists.

She has erupted for five goals in the Hokies’ past four games.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be back to my old self,” she said. “I’m trying to become a new version, a new player.”

Price is grateful to be back on the field.

“When you go through something like that (injury), things get taken away from you really quickly and you realize how much you have to cherish being able to walk, being able to run again, being able to go out and practice and go out and play,” she said. “It’s just made me appreciate the game so much more and want to go out there and have fun.

“A year ago I couldn’t even walk, I couldn’t even move without crutches or a full brace. … It teaches you so much about resilience and trust. I’m very confident in my faith, so I put a lot of trust in God.”

Impact freshman

Price is from Ashburn. She played for the same club soccer team in Northern Virginia, St. James FC Virginia, that former Tech great Murielle Tieran and a number of other ex-Hokies used to play for.

Price played both soccer and basketball at Briar Woods High School. She was a forward on the court, too.

“Basketball … helped me with my hand-eye coordination and also my athleticism,” she said. “Playing two sports … is honestly really beneficial.”

She verbally committed to Tech in January of her junior year of high school. She picked the Hokies over West Virginia and South Carolina.

Price was named  both the VHSL Class 5 girls soccer state player of the year and the Washington Post All-Metro player of the year as a Briar Woods senior in 2022, when she helped her team win the Class 5 state title. She had a hat trick in the state semifinals.

Tech women’s soccer coach Chugger Adair did not expect Price would make a big impact as a Hokies freshman.

But she scored a team-best eight goals and also had three assists that year. She not only made the ACC all-freshman team but also made the All-ACC third team. She helped Tech reach the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Price’s movement in the box makes her dangerous near the net.

“She’s always hungry,” Adair said. “She’s looking for little pockets and (ball) knock-downs and scrappy goals.”

But Price’s sophomore season was cut short by her ACL injury. It was the first major injury Price had ever suffered.

She found rehab to be “extremely hard.”

“You spend a lot of time in the training room and a lot of time not with the team,” she said. “You’re not on the field spending time with them.

“You feel like you’re going through it alone, even though you’re definitely not.

“When you lose playing your sport every day of the week … and all of a sudden you’re stuck here with an injury, … it’s hard not to feel as involved as you used to be.”

When did her rehab end?

“Rehab’s never over,” she said with a laugh. “You’re always going to have to do exercises to get your knee strength back.”

Comeback season

Price was proud to return for the season opener against Campbell in August.

“It meant so much to me,” she said. “That was my goal.”

The Hokies, who did not make the NCAAs last fall, did not receive any votes in the national preseason coaches poll this year.

But Tech (10-3-2, 5-1-1) is nationally ranked this week for the third straight week. The Hokies are in a four-way tie for third in the ACC standings; only the top six teams make the league tournament.

Tech has gone 3-0-1 in its last four games. Price has five goals in that span.

“It definitely helps your confidence when you’re scoring goals,” she said. “It helps you want to take more opportunities.”

Price tries to bring a “gritty mentality” to her game.

“I like being aggressive,” she said. “I like … playing with fight and passion.”

She scored three goals in a 5-1 win over Louisville on Sept. 26. It was the first hat trick by a Hokie in three years.

“My confidence just kept rolling,” Price said.

Two years ago, Price played for the Tech team that knocked off then-No. 3 North Carolina for only the third time in school history.

She was part of another signature win on Oct. 6, when the Hokies erased a 2-0 deficit to beat then-No. 6 Florida State 3-2. It was Tech’s first win over reigning NCAA champ FSU in school history.

Price scored the winning goal from close range with 3:08 remaining. She considers that goal to be the highlight of her career.

“Great ball in from Emma Pelkowski. Natalie (Mitchell) played an amazing flick — I don’t even know how she got up there. … The ball kind of fell right in front of my feet,” she said. “I looked up and saw the near post was open, so I just hit it as hard as I could.”

She scored again in a 1-0 win over SMU on Oct. 10. She showed off her aerial presence with a header in the second half.

“I love header goals,” she said. “I just jumped and hit it and it went in.”

The SMU game marked the one-year anniversary of her knee surgery.

“I’m definitely still healing, … still getting my strength back, trying to get everything back to the way I want,” she said.

But she is happy with how she he has been playing.

“It’s been really rewarding in many ways,” she said.