Senior Taylor Simpkins to Play at Point Loma Nazarene
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Taylor Simpkins will sign to play soccer with Pt. Loma Nazarene Sea Lions at the St. Francis Soccer Signing Day celebration on Feb. 7.
“At first it was all about the campus,” said Simpkins about the attraction to PLNU. “My mom and went to San Diego to tour all the schools in the area. Pt. Loma was the first one and I just had the feeling that it was where I needed to be.”
Simpkins will join a program under the direction of new head coach Krista Kiely, who was recently named the third head coach in school history. She comes to the Sea Lion program after coaching at Arkansas and helped lead the Razorbacks to the NCAA Tournament.
“The soccer program is amazing,” said Simpkins. “There is a new coach coming in and she is super nice and open. She wants to work with everyone. The athletic program is going to be really good. Boys did fantastic and the girls did pretty well, too. I feel with the new recruits coming in we will be super good.”
The Sea Lions are coming off a season in which they went 9-7-1 and finished seventh in the PacWest Conference.
Simpkins played three seasons in the St. Francis program, accumulating 24 career goals and 14 assists. She led the junior varsity as a freshman with 19 goals before playing for the varsity team. She has concentrated on her play with her San Juan ECNL squad this season.
“The people are super friendly and open about religion,” said Simpkins. “You are going to grow as a person and with your faith, as well as an athlete and a student. It was what I want in a school – to grow to who I am after college. It was the main reason I chose Point Loma.”
Simpkins joins former Troubadour volleyball player Ashlynn Fresques in the Sea Lion athletic department.
She looks back on her time in a SF uniform fondly.
“The girls were awesome and the relationships you build will carry on,” said Simpkins.
Simpkins plans to study sociology and criminal justice at PLNU.
“I am not sure what area I want to go in but I have a broad major to see what I am interested in when I get there,” said Simpkins.
Simpkins, who participated in MMA for six years when she was younger, has concentrated on soccer since entering high school.
She will join classmate Marlee Nicolos (Santa Clara) at the school’s celebration at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 7 in the CLC. The event will be broadcast on TroubieTV.