Nick_Taylor_(footballer)
Nick Taylor (footballer)
Cambodian footballer (born 1998)
Nicolas Doeung Taylor (Khmer: នីកូឡាស ឌឿង ថៃល័រ; born 2 September 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a left winger or left back for Cambodian Premier League club, Svay Rieng. Born and raised in the United States to an American father and a Cambodian mother, he earned his first senior international cap for the Cambodia national team in September 2022.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolas Doeung Taylor[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-09-02) 2 September 1998 (age 25)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Coppell, Texas, U.S. | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left winger, left back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Svay Rieng | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dallas Texans | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | New Mexico Lobos | 29 | (6) |
| 2019–2021 | SMU Mustangs | 31 | (2) |
| 2021 | UCF Knights | 16 | (3) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022 | Orlando City B | 22 | (1) |
| 2023– | Svay Rieng | 27 | (5) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2022– | Cambodia | 12 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 | |||
Growing up in Coppell, Texas, Taylor played soccer for Coppell High School where he won the Texas UIL 6A State Championship in 2016 and was named to the 2016–17 NSCAA Winter-Spring High School Boys All-American Team. He was a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year nominee, finishing as runner-up in 2016. Taylor also played club soccer for Dallas Texans, helping the team become U.S. Youth Soccer National bronze medalist in 2013. With Dallas Texans, Taylor also won two State Cups and two Classic League Division I titles.[3]
College career
Taylor played five seasons of college soccer between 2017 and 2021 while majoring in marketing. Although he received numerous Division 2 and Division 3 offers, Taylor's only D1 offer was from Conference USA team New Mexico Lobos, coached by Paul Souders. Souders had heard of Taylor as early as middle school because their mothers worked together at the school Taylor was at and later also attended his alma mater, Coppell High School. Despite inviting Taylor to a New Mexico talent ID camp and eventually getting him to verbally commit to New Mexico, Souders left the program to become an assistant to Scott Calabrese at UCF Knights the day before signing day but made a phone call to Taylor, convincing him to remain committed.[4] Taylor ultimately played two seasons at New Mexico, making 29 appearances, scoring six goals and five assists. He earned 2018 All-Conference USA Second Team honors.[3][5]
When the Lobos program was shut down following the 2018 season, Taylor initially reached out to Souders but UCF already had depth at the winger position.[4] Instead he joined SMU Mustangs of the American Athletic Conference. As a junior, he played 20 games in the 2019 season, registering three assists including one in a 3–3 tie with UCF during the regular season. SMU also beat UCF 1–0 in the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament final. With the 2020 season delayed until Spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor started all 11 matches during the shortened season, scoring two goals including one against UCF.[6]
Having been granted an additional year of eligibility due to the shortened nature of the pandemic season, Taylor entered the NCAA transfer portal. Souders spotted his name on the transfer portal and convinced head coach Calabrese to offer Taylor a spot on the team that night having been impressed during frequent meetings between SMU and UCF.[4] In his fifth year, Taylor started all 16 of UCF's games, scoring three goals and nine assists.[7]
Orlando City B
On January 11, 2022, Taylor was selected in the third round (74th overall) of the 2022 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City.[8] Having spent time with the club in preseason camp, he signed a professional contract with the team's reserve affiliate, Orlando City B, in MLS Next Pro ahead of 2022 season.[9] He made his professional debut on March 26 in the season opener.
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng
On February 3, 2023, Nick was unveiled as the new player for Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng of the Cambodian Premier League.[10] He made his debut on February 26, as a 63rd-minute substitute against Nagaworld FC in the CNCC League Cup and scored six minutes later. PKR Svay Rieng won 5–0.[11]
Born in the United States, Taylor's mother is Cambodian making him eligible to represent Cambodia internationally.[7] In May 2022, it was reported Cambodian coaches were considering selecting Taylor for the upcoming 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round matches in June but this ultimately did not happen.[12] However, in September 2022, Taylor was first named to a preliminary list of 40 players for an upcoming international friendly against Bangladesh before being named to the final 24-player squad two weeks later.[13]
Taylor made his senior international debut on September 23, 2022, entering as a 60th-minute substitute in a 1–0 loss to Bangladesh. In December 2022, he was named to the squad to compete at the 2022 AFF Championship.[14] On 29 December 2022, Taylor scored his first international goal, a penalty in a 5–1 victory over Brunei in the group stage of the competition.[15]
College
| School | Season | Division | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico Lobos | 2017 | Div. I | 12 | 2 |
| 2018 | 17 | 4 | ||
| Total | 29 | 6 | ||
| SMU Mustangs | 2019 | Div. I | 20 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | 11 | 2 | ||
| Total | 31 | 2 | ||
| UCF Knights | 2021 | Div. I | 16 | 3 |
| Career total | 76 | 11 | ||
Club
- As of 20 April 2024[1]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup[lower-alpha 1] | Playoffs | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Orlando City B | 2022 | MLS Next Pro | 22 | 1 | — | — | — | 22 | 1 | |||
| PKR Svay Rieng | 2023–24 | Cambodian Premier League | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | — | 29 | 7 | |
| Career total | 46 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 8 | ||
International
- As of 26 March 2024[16]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | 2022 | 4 | 1 |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 1 | |
- As of match played 29 December 2022:
Cambodia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Taylor goal[16]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 29, 2022 | Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 4 |  Brunei | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2022 AFF Championship | [15] |
SMU Mustangs
- Nick Taylor at Soccerway
- Nick Taylor at WorldFootball.net
- "Nick Taylor – New Mexico Lobos". University of New Mexico. 27 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- David, Austin (13 February 2022). "Nick Taylor's twisting journey leads to chance with Orlando City". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "MSOC: All-Conference Awards Announced". conferenceusa.com. 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "Nick Taylor – SMU Men's Soccer". SMU Athletics. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "Nick Taylor – UCF Men's Soccer". UCF Athletics. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "Orlando City Selects Forward Jack Lynn in First Round of 2022 MLS SuperDraft". www.orlandocitysc.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "Orlando City B Announces 2022 Roster Ahead of Inaugural MLS NEXT Pro Season". www.orlandocitysc.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- "គាត់បានមកដល់ហើយ ✨ He's... – Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- "Match report: Angkor Tiger FC v PKR Svay Rieng" (PDF). www.cpl-cambodia.com.
- Tola, Kang (26 May 2022). "កីឡាករកូនកាត់ខ្មែរអាមេរិក១រូប កំពុងត្រូវបានអ្នកស្នេហាវិស័យបាល់ទាត់ ចង់ឃើញចូលក្រមជម្រើសជាតិកម្ពុជា".
- "សហព័ន្ធកីឡាបាល់ទាត់កម្ពុជា". Facebook (Football Federation of Cambodia official) (in Khmer). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- "Cambodia v Brunei Live Commentary & Result, 29/12/2022, AFF Championship | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- "Nick Taylor". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- Nick Taylor at University of Central Florida
- Nick Taylor at Orlando City SC