The Ole Miss soccer team has experienced great success to start this year’s campaign, registering an undefeated record so far at 7-0-2. The Rebels are ranked ninth overall in the nation, the highest ever for the program. As they head into conference play in one of the tougher leagues in the country, defender Taylor Radecki headlines a prolific Ole Miss squad.
Radecki, the senior who transferred from Florida State, has made a lasting impact in her three years in Oxford. In her first year, she started all 18 matches in a COVID-affected season and played a major part in seven clean sheets in her sophomore year.
Likewise, she started all 21 matches in her junior-year campaign with six clean sheets and added seven assists, which was second on the team in that category. Along with scoring her first career goal that year against South Alabama, Radecki was reaching her potential to be among the best in the country at her position.
And yet, she still finds ways to go beyond. So far this season, Radecki is tied for first in the country with seven total assists and in the top four in assists per game, with 0.88 per contest. These numbers become even more impressive when taking into account that she primarily plays center back, as there is no other defender within the top 10 in that category.
“For me being a center back and being at the back of the field, I’m not really helping on offense a whole lot. Being able to get forward and take the corner kicks and throw ins and be able to help my team further in the final third is important to me because it adds another aspect to my game,” Radecki said.
Radecki excels at set pieces, specifically long throw-ins. A long throw-in can have the goal scoring threat of a corner kick but is a move few players can do. In fact, nearly every time the Rebels are in the final third and the ball is out of play, Radecki steps up to haul it in. This can cause problems for the opposing defense, as players might not quite know how to deal with it, thus leading to chaos in the box and sometimes the ball in the back of the net.
This is nothing new for Radecki, though. Her ability to consistently perform from this set piece dates back to before her college days, when she was just a kid watching soccer with her dad.
“When I was younger, we didn’t really notice it at the time, but you could tell that I could kind of throw it farther than everyone else,” Radecki said. “When me and my dad would watch college soccer, he noticed that another girl could throw it really far and said that he thought I could do it, too.”
Not only is she an exceptional player, Radecki is just as exceptional if not more so as a teammate. She and her fellow Rebels have topnotch chemistry between them, as evident in their style of play and the success garnered from that. Additionally, she shared that she has a particularly strong bond with a fellow defender and Florida native on the squad.
“I have a strong bond with a lot of the girls, but the most with Syd (Sydney) Michalak. We play center back and live together so we’re always with each other,” Radecki said.
Along with Michalak, Radecki shares a close relationship with freshman Maddie Bishop.
“She is my soccer buddy on the team this year. She is constantly cheering me on and pushing me to be better on the field.”
And it seems as if Bishop’s support is paying off, as Radecki is always looking to improve and add to her game. She is akin to a sponge in the way that she absorbs knowledge of the game and applies it to her own style as well.
“I like to watch a lot of different soccer, whether it’s men’s, women’s, professional or college and see what works for other people and try to apply that to my style of play. If it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, I probably won’t try it again.” Radecki said.
Ole MIss head coach Matt Mott and the rest of the team certainly hope that Radecki continues whatever she’s doing, as she has proved to be a vital piece to this team. The Rebels continue their hot start to the season vs. Florida at 6 p.m. Sept. 22 in Oxford, the second of their many upcoming SEC matches.
