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The player behind Taylor Kornieck’s complicated position identity

Taylor Kornieck is on the verge of making the USWNT’s World Cup roster while also playing her second season with the San Diego Wave. (Daniela Porcelli/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Taylor Kornieck knows what her opponents see when she runs on the field. The San Diego Wave forward is the tallest field player in U.S. women’s national team history, an asset she uses to her advantage in aerial challenges in the midfield and towering headers in the attack.

“I do think that it’s something that no other team has, just a huge 6-1 girl running straight down the middle, and it’s a very dangerous thing to have,” she said with a smile before San Diego’s season opener, a 3-2 win over the Chicago Red Stars last weekend.

But her obvious physical attributes sometimes make it easy to overlook other skills she brings to the game, not least of which is a voracious desire to learn and improve.

At halftime of their season opener, the Wave found themselves knotted in a 2-2 draw in front of over 30,000 home fans. Head coach Casey Stoney had drawn her midfield up into a box formation for the game, with Kornieck at the top of the box. Teams have extensive scouting reports for a player like Kornieck, especially for late in a game when set pieces can make the difference. Against Chicago, the Wave’s midfield approach began to stretch the Red Stars’ defense late in the match, helping Alex Morgan draw a penalty and score the game-winning penalty kick in the 89th minute.

“I think when Kornieck’s in the game, you’re almost stupid to not play to her strengths, because what she does is so special in our game,” Chicago Red Stars head coach Christ Petrucelli said after the opener.

But what those strengths are have been put under a microscope as the midfielder continues to make her case for the USWNT roster. An attacking midfielder for her club, Kornieck has been slotted in as a forward attacking midfielder, a defensive midfielder and, she says, sometimes even at center back when training with the U.S. The juggling act makes it harder to get a clear picture of a talented player who has yet to reach her ceiling.

Kornieck’s ascension to the USWNT began with a fresh start in 2022, just two years into her professional career. A standout at the University of Colorado, Kornieck was selected third in the 2020 draft by the Orlando Pride, highly touted not only for her physicality but her ability to progress play with the ball at her feet. The season that followed was not what Kornieck — or anyone else — expected. Weeks into preseason, the NWSL canceled their regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held the first-ever Challenge Cup as a stopgap tournament.

But the Pride didn’t get a chance to participate. Players tested positive for COVID right before the tournament was set to begin, making travel to Utah impossible for the group.

Without a real rookie year, Kornieck played her first regular season with the Pride in 2021 and grew more unsure Orlando provided the trajectory she wanted for her career. She registered two goals and three assists as the Pride lost head coach Marc Skinner to the WSL’s Manchester United midseason and finished eighth out of 10 teams.

“I didn’t really have the greatest year,” she says. “I just knew deep down I could strive to be so much better than how I was playing there.

“I think I don’t even look back at Orlando anymore, because I just know that that truly wasn’t me. Now I’m starting to sprout here and really blossom in who I want to become.”

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Kornieck finished with three goals and three assists for the second-place Wave last season. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

As San Diego began roster-building for the first time, Kornieck immediately saw the expansion club as a good fit for her, and worked with her agent to make a trade out West a reality. The new club presented not only a chance for her to move closer to home in Las Vegas, but also to grow into the player she knew she could be with the right guidance.

“I felt like in Orlando, I mean, even in college, I really didn’t get the opportunity to learn truly and, and learn properly from — I had great coaches, don’t get me wrong — but I just felt like in a professional career, you just need a little bit more,” she says.

The 24-year-old found that guidance under Stoney, who led the Wave to third place in the 2022 regular-season standings and the semifinals of the playoffs, marking the best finish by a first-year expansion side in NWSL history.

The process begins in training.

“She gives us the space to feel free to make mistakes, and I think that’s something that’s not really taken that seriously at other clubs,” Kornieck says. “Mistakes are what make you grow.”

Providing the space to make mistakes is an intentional approach by Stoney, who says she did a lot of listening in her first year as an NWSL coach to understand what players coming in from other clubs needed in a training environment.

“I listened about their experiences and what they had previously undergone with other coaches, and mistakes were not allowed,” Stoney says. “The consequences were huge, the way that they would get almost screamed at and disciplined if they did make mistakes.”

Stoney’s approach has given her players the freedom to make the occasional risky pass, a skill Kornieck showcases with the ability of a veteran. She plays an attacking role in the midfield for the Wave, sitting right underneath Alex Morgan, who was also a teammate in Orlando.

“I think she has more of a clearer idea of what is expected of her from Casey,” Morgan says. “Which I think really helps her a lot in inner confidence, and knowing exactly what she needs to do on and off the field.”

Kornieck credits her first season in San Diego for helping her tighten up her positioning in space, which then allows her to focus on receiving and progressing the ball. When asked about her underrated strengths, she says she trusts her own vision in tight spaces, sometimes making the pass that no one else sees.

“I think it gives me more space in my brain to focus on other things,” she says.

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Kornieckhas leaned on veteran Alex Morgan's guidance while adjusting to her many roles. (Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The ability to adjust her positioning has proven to be her greatest asset to the national team, where head coach Vlatko Andonovski has used the midfielder in many different roles primarily off the bench.

“Of course everyone sees her as one of the tallest players, if not the tallest field player, in the league, but what people didn’t maybe see until last year was just how good she is at her feet, and getting out of situations that most people wouldn’t be able to get out otherwise,” says Morgan.

As a No. 6 option at the international level, Kornieck solves problems through short passes, minimizing risk in dangerous areas and not playing the tricky ball she’s known for in the NWSL. Once again, she’s had to learn to adapt to wildly different roles based on the game she’s entering, but Kornieck approaches the challenge with the same desire to improve.

“I need to just focus on me as a player,” she says, “and knowing my characteristics as a player instead of a certain position.”

Playing for the USWNT, the No. 1 team in the world, comes with a certain amount of outside pressure. Kornieck relies on Morgan, a USWNT veteran, for guidance on how to adapt to two very different roles for club and country.

“I’m always just picking her brain on just any more information she could give me,” Kornieck says.

Defensive positioning and simple passing are her focused areas of improvement, but she’s eager to pick up the skills to become a more well-rounded player.

“If you teach me how to do that, and I get some of that in my game as well on top of playing that long ball, which I do feel really comfortable doing, I think you could create something incredible,” she says.

For the USWNT, Kornieck embraces being whatever type of player she’s asked to be, with the goal of making her first major tournament roster for the 2023 World Cup. With just one national team camp left before Andonovski names the roster, Kornieck has continued to get consistent call-ups, most recently for the April international window, and appears to be one of the young players close to achieving that goal.

For the Wave, the task at hand is simpler: generate attack, score goals and keep improving. The club isn’t happy to simply repeat their 2022 success; they want to win every trophy available to them this year and play more nuanced styles of soccer, which requires the consistent progress that Kornieck embodies.

“I’ve worked closely with Taylor now for a year, I’ve seen so much growth and improvement,” Stoney says. “And I want to continue on that streak with her, because I think her ceiling is very high, and there’s so much more growth to come.”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

US Tennis Stars Advance as Wimbledon Field Narrows

Italy's Jasmine Paolini celebrates her first-round win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini fell in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. (Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

US tennis star Emma Navarro eyes a return during a 2025 Wimbledon match.
US star Emma Navarro will face 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková in Wimbledon's Round of 32. (Rob Newell/CameraSport via Getty Images)

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

Finland Opens Women’s Euro 2025 with Upset Upset Win Over Iceland

Finland's Katariina Kosola and Emma Koivisto celebrate a goal during their opening 2025 Euro match.
Finland earned a surprise 1-0 win over Iceland in their 2025 Euro opener on Wednesday. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

Spain jersey hang in lockers ahead of the team's 2025 Euro opening match against Portugal.
Reigning World Cup champions Spain will open their 2025 Euro account against Portugal. (Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

USWNT Caps Summer Friendlies with 3-0 Canada Shutout

Yazmeen Ryan, Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Mandy McGlynn, and Izzy Rodriguez and the rest of the USWNT huddle after their July 2025 friendly win over Canada.
The USWNT finished the summer international window with 11 goals, conceding none, across three matches. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

Seattle Storm Looks to Climb the WNBA Standings in Weekend Gauntlet

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike high-fives teammates as she's introduced before a 2025 WNBA game.
The No. 5 Seattle Storm will face No. 4 Atlanta and No. 3 New York this weekend. (Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

  • No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

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