McCann can do it all for Panthers

When the Burlingame High girls' soccer team needs an extra push offensively, coach Phillip De Rosa knows what to do. He calls on senior Taylor McCann. The senior midfielder gets moved up top to forward every once in a while, usually when the Panthers are looking for some extra offensive firepower. And that's exactly what McCann provided in two matches last week. She scored a goal in a 1-1 draw against Aragon and two days later scored two goals in a 3-1 win over Terra Nova. For her efforts, McCann is the Daily Journal's Athlete of the Week. "Taylor is a bona-fide star," De Rosa said. "She's such an impact player and it's remarkable to see just how much power she can generate on a ball. She's such a complete player and has one of the hardest shots you'll ever see at this level." No kidding. The Stanford-bound McCann displayed her strength in both matches last week. Against Aragon, she buried an unstoppable shot from just outside the 18-yard box, and she repeated that feat versus Terra Nova. Despite dominating the first half against Terra Nova, the Panthers trailed 1-0 at halftime. That's when De Rosa lit into his players before leaving it up to his three captains -- one of whom is McCann -- to lead the team to victory. "We all realized we weren't working as hard as we were capable of and being lazy," McCann said. "The captains tried to get everyone motivated and we knew we could come back." McCann is coming off a breakout junior season in which she scored 21 goals. The year turned out to be critical on many fronts. McCann knew if she wanted to achieve her goal of playing for a top-flight Division I program, she needed to consistently excel in all phases of the game. More importantly, McCann felt she needed to start playing more aggressive as well. "Coming into my junior year I wanted to be more assertive," McCann said. "I wanted to become more of a game-changer. I got the self-confidence and everything kind of fell into place." Did it ever. In Burlingame's 3-1 win over St. Francis last year in the Central Coast Section playoff semifinals, McCann scored two impressive goals. De Rosa said McCann's performance got the attention of Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe, who was in attendance watching the St. Francis goalkeeper. Last season also proved to be instrumental in McCann's career arc because at the end of her sophomore year she endured a bout with anemia. McCann couldn't do any strenuous exercise for two months, but she eventually got well and has been on a tear ever since. "(Getting anemia) was hard because I went from having all this endurance to not being able to run a mile," she said. "I had no energy and it took me a year to get back to where I was before." The fact that McCann will be suiting up for the Cardinal next season is a dream come true. Growing up, McCann fell in love with the school, then the soccer program. She attended at least a couple of Stanford games every year, and followed the Cardinal's run to the NCAA championship game this season. "Ever since I started playing competitively when I was 8, I've wanted to play at Stanford," said McCann, who maintains a 4.4 weighted GPA and scored 2,070 on her SATs. "As of sophomore year it really wasn't a reality, but I started playing better and kept on working hard. Going to Stanford was always in the back of my mind, and it's so cool it happened." McCann didn't play soccer as a freshman because she was happy with her performance during cross-country season. But she quickly realized she couldn't stay away from soccer for long. "I ended up missing it a lot," she said. McCann feels her greatest strength is her vision. But her greatest attribute might lie in her finishing ability. The best soccer players know how to finish. It's what separates the good players from the upper-echelon ones. It only took the opening week of league play as further evidence that McCann knows how to deliver in the most pivotal moments.