No Denying Timko in Run to 100 Goals

April 9, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The grinding force of Taylor Timko's attacks on the soccer goal comes out in her coach Jim Stachura’s voice as he describes them.

It’s not so much something technical – although the Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior has plenty of skill – but more a mix of athleticism, vision and drive that sets the all-state midfielder apart from most in Michigan this spring.

“And the more and more she gets denied something she wants,” Stachura said, “the more and more she’ll try it.”

In a word – is “relentless” the right one?

“That was our team word last year,” Timko answered, noting the irony of the question.

“Relentless” can have a negative connotation, meaning strict or harsh. But this is relentless in a good way – determined, unyielding, and at times unstoppable.

On Tuesday, Timko became the 41st player in MHSAA girls soccer history to score 100 goals, netting three in Notre Dame Prep's 6-0 win over Madison Heights Bishop Foley.

She has 13 goals in six games this season, to go with 39 goals as a junior, 29 as a sophomore and 21 as a freshman.

“The best part of soccer is definitely scoring. I think it’s cool that that’s the point of the game,” Timko said. “If you have a shot, I say definitely take it. It’s like anything; if there’s an opportunity there, take it and run with it. It’s kind of a motto, I guess.”

She’s made the most of many as she enters the heart of her final high school spring.

Timko made headlines this fall as the kicker for a Notre Dame Prep football team that finished a solid 8-3 with help from her left leg. She was named Homecoming Queen, accepting the crown in football uniform during halftime of the Fighting Irish’s Sept. 27 game against Detroit Loyola.

She’s also a decorated track standout, as a freshman taking third in the 400 meters and running on the fourth-place 1,600 relay at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, then running on the third-place 1,600 relay as a sophomore. And she’s a nearly straight-A student, even as AP calculus is making that pursuit a little tougher of late.

But soccer certainly is her best game, and her impressive scoring totals have come against some of the toughest competition in Michigan. Last season’s schedule included the top-two ranked teams in Division 2 – Detroit Catholic League cross-division rivals Livonia Ladywood and Bloomfield Hills Marian – plus another top-10 Division 3 team in Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard and eventual Division 1 champion Troy.

But Timko and classmate Lindsey Klei keyed an offense attack that drove the Irish all the way to the Division 3 championship game – which despite a 1-0 loss to Grand Rapids South Christian made prophetic a conversation Stachura had with a coaching friend as Timko was just about to take off on her 100-goal career four years ago.

“He said, you know, when you get someone who’s going to score 20 goals for you, you’re going to play in a state final,” Stachura recalled. “Just having a goal scorer like that gives you the missing link. We've always had some good players ... but getting the girls to rally around her has been a big key.”

After the 21-goal debut, Stachura thought Timko’s total might fall some the next season because Notre Dame Prep graduated two all-staters including now-Oakland University contributor Katrina Stencel. But Timko scored eight more that spring than the one before, and then upped her total another 10 goals in 2013 – even as the schedule was toughened.  

Many of those goals have come on her go-to move, a fake right and cut to a shot with her left foot. She likes headers too – admitting, a little tongue-in-cheek perhaps, that at 5-foot-7, “I've got hops,” she said.

Timko also has three assists this season and 39 for her career, and should push to end up among the MHSAA career points leaders as well before this spring is done.

“Thinking back to my freshman year, I never had specific goals of what I wanted to accomplish. Just everyday stuff on the field – at practice being the best player type of things,” Timko said. “Even for a particular season, I didn't say I want to score 20 goals this year; it’s more game to game goals.

“It’s such a blessing how far we've been able to come, and the things we've been able to accomplish. I can honestly say I never expected this.”

But she’s played a huge part in – as Stachura said earlier this year – setting a standard both on the field and in her school.

Timko will head to the University of Michigan this fall to play soccer but also because she’s an outstanding and hard-working student. Her childhood aspiration was to become a veterinarian, but she’s leaning now toward something in the medical or kinesiology fields – “somewhere I could help people,” she said.

She’s a member of the National Honor Society, Students Against Destructive Decisions and her school’s Varsity Club, and serves as a student ambassador for Notre Dame Prep and math tutor to classmates.

“She’s somebody both the boys and girls can look up to – the guys give her street cred because she played football, and the girls see a great athlete and a role model,” Notre Dame Prep assistant athletic director Dean Allen said. “Some kids maybe in general get big heads on their shoulders, as stud athletes. But she's really humble."

Football was “inspiring,” allowing Timko as the kicker to observe the intensity she works to bring to the soccer field. She also learned a valuable lesson about pressure – what it takes to come through when, as a football kicker, she had only one shot at the goal and only a few seconds to execute.

Timko is loving serving as soccer captain for a third straight season, especially as she gets to share those duties with classmates Klei, Bella Galloway and Lauren Gunterman.

And that lesson in pressure could pay off big as she and the Irish continue pursuing the one prize they were denied at the end of last season.

Remember what Stachura said about when Timko gets denied?

“Relentless is definitely a way to live,” Timko said. “Everyone faces obstacles, and there are easy solutions too. But you have to keep pushing through.”

PHOTOS: (Top) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Taylor Timko moves the ball upfield during last season’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Timko (22), with her teammates and coach Jim Stachura, pose with the congratulatory sign she received from them after scoring her 100th career goal Tuesday. (Middle photo courtesy of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep High School.)

Forest Hills Central Ends Marian Title Streak, Begins Division 2 Reign

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

June 18, 2022

EAST LANSING – Wearing her black “lucky’’ jacket, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls soccer coach Ashley Ludtke celebrated her team’s 2-1 Division 2 championship game victory over Bloomfield Hills Marian on Saturday at DeMartin Stadium.

The Mustangs were seeking their fifth-straight Division 2 title. Instead, the Rangers (20-2-1) ended that streak with their fifth championship and first since winning Division 1 in 2017.

FHC became just the fifth team to hold Marian to fewer than two goals this season, and capped a run during which the Rangers didn’t give up more than one goal in 10 straight games.

“Marian is obviously a top-notched program,’’ Ludtke said. “They have skilled players at every level. We settled into the game, but they definitely were putting some pressure on us. The defense really came together the final part of the season. I was proud of how our backline played too.’’

The Rangers offense was led all season by senior forward Theryn Hallock, daughter of former MSU fullback Ty Hallock, who will attend her father’s school on a basketball scholarship.

Hallock wasted no time making her presence felt Saturday, scoring the first goal on a header at the 35:01 mark to give Central a 1-0 lead. It was her 35th goal of the season.

Forest Hills Central/Marian soccerBoxing out like a power forward, she made the Marian defense account for her throughout the championship. Hallock returned to the soccer field this spring for the first time since middle school after focusing on hoops during her first three years at FHC.

“This was a chance for me to come out and play with my friends,’’ said Hallock. “I’ll miss soccer, but I’m ready to get on the court and play.

“We knew our defense had to be solid. We knew we had to get the ball to our forwards because of their speed. We probably could have scored more, but we got the job done. On my goal I just ran to the box, and I knew Dailey Tucker could get me the ball. I was there, I was ready to head it and I had a lot of confidence.’’

After Hallock’s goal, Marian star Isa Agrusso took less than two minutes to tie the game, fighting through two defenders and scoring her 21st goal of the season.

The lead didn’t last long as senior midfielder Stella Sutton scored on a corner kick at the 31:15 mark to give the Rangers a 2-1 advantage.

“We’ve been working on corner kicks ever since postseason started,’’ said Sutton. “I really just wanted to get in there and capitalize on the opportunity. I got my body in there. It hit my shoulder and it just went in. It determined the game. We knew we couldn’t allow another goal.’’

They didn’t. Mustangs first-year coach Reid Friedrichs, a former Michigan State star, was bothered by the corner kick score.

“It was not how we scripted the beginning,” he said. “It was a very wide-open game, and we looked a little shocked at how fast they could counter. I don’t know if the girls were ready for that kind of speed in a live scenario. We hadn’t given up a goal on the corner since the first game of the year. We’ve scored an average of 1.06 goals on restarts per game. To give up one and not score one is the opposite of what we’ve done all year.’’ 

The Mustangs (17-2) pressed the issue offensively looking for the tying score, but lime green-clad FHC keeper Ava Wilberding was up to the challenge. 

Hallock nearly gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead, but a shot that got through came just after the first-half horn sounded.

Forest Hills Central had more chances to take a two-goal lead during the first 20 minutes of the second half, but didn’t convert.

Bloomfield Hills Marian (17-2) was seeking its fifth-straight Division 2 title, but this time for the first time without retired coach Barry Brodsky.

His first Marian championship came in 2003 with co-coach Chris Courage and the opponent Forest Hills Central, with Marian winning 1-0 in overtime.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Dailey Tucker (24) considers her options Saturday with a Marian player applying pressure. (Middle) The Rangers celebrate their first championship since 2017.