By RUSS BROWN • Photos by Racing Louisville FC
It took awhile, but after several years persevering as a professional soccer nomad wandering from position to position, Taylor Flint has finally found a home that has a permanent look.
Flint, 25, is thriving in her first season as a starting defensive midfielder with Racing Louisville Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) -- her fifth pro year overall, following stops in Orlando and San Diego. She was acquired by Racing from the Wave in a trade during the offseason and has been the team’s best player this year.
“Taylor has been a huge addition to our team and has excelled in her positional role,” Racing coach Bev Yanez said. “She is a professional in everything she does and has been a force in the midfield for us.”
From the start Flint’s talent was never in doubt; it was just a question of where her best position would be. After starring at the University of Colorado, where she earned All-America honors, the Troy, Michigan native who grew up in Henderson, Nev. near Las Vegas, was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft, the highest selection in Orlando Pride history. On her circuitous journey to Louisville, she was tried as an attacking midfielder, striker, wide forward and defensive midfielder.
However, she insists she never got frustrated with the uncertainty from game to game.
“I enjoy it when coaches see me in different positions and trust me to be able to play those positions,” she said. “I think it’s kind of a compliment to me, so I don’t mind at all.”
The US Women’s National Team used Flint as a lone defensive midfielder in a handful of games, and it didn’t work. But once she got to Louisville, Yanez paired her with another defensive midfielder who can help her cover more ground in the middle of the field, and it has turned out to be the perfect role for her.
“I would definitely say midfield is my position,” Flint (nee Kornieck) said. “It took me a little while to get comfortable, but I am always up for a challenge and I adapt really well, especially when I have a coach like Bev who can teach me. I learn by doing. I don’t learn by seeing, if that makes sense. I need to actually be put in a position and learn it myself and Bev gave me the freedom to do that. So it’s been a really good change for me.”
Flint says this has been one of her better seasons in the league, and her accomplishments reflect that belief. She leads the NWSL in aerial duels won, interceptions and tackles, and she ranks second in blocks. She was named to the March/April Team of the Month.
“When Bev moved me, I was like, ‘Oh, I need to learn this, because it’s completely different,’” Flint said. “I had to have more of a defensive mindset than I did scoring and and I ended up loving it so much. I found more joy blocking a shot than I did scoring. It’s just cool to see the growth behind my game. Playing professionally you never know where a team is going to need you, so being super adaptable is very important. But I think I’ve found my true position and I’m only five years into playing professionally, so I’m excited to see how far I can go.”
Flint has played soccer since she was four years old. Later, partly because of her height at 6-foot-1, she tried volleyball and basketball, but kept returning to soccer.
“I like being outdoors and I like playing on a huge soccer field because you have so much freedom to express your creativity,” she said. “When I was young, I was always a very creative girl. I love the game.”
With the end of Racing’s season in sight, Flint can look forward to relaxing and recharging before getting back to work. Racing has just four more home games remaining -- Sept. 14 vs. Angel City; Sept. 21 vs. North Carolina Courage; Oct. 5 vs. Kansas City Current; and Oct. 19 vs. Portland Thorns.
“I really just like to switch off,” she said of her postseason plans. “I like to take a good month and not even look at a soccer ball. I get so consumed in what I’m doing and it has a negative effect on me.”
Last year she and her husband, Bailey Flint, a former punter for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League, spent a month in Australia after the season. So what’s on her agenda this year?
“I don’t know where I want to be, honestly,” she said. “It will be somewhere tropical for the first few weeks, then I will probably go see my mom in Nevada. I like to stay on the move.”
However, Flint’s moves on the soccer field are apparently a thing of the past.
The background here is that while everyone knew she was/ is very talented, it was always a question of where her best position is. She’s been tried as a attacking midfielder, sometimes a wide forward, sometimes a midfielder who plays everywhere. The US Women’s National Team used her as a lone defensive midfielder in some games, and it just didn’t work. But once she got to Louisville, she has thrived as a defensive midfielder because she is paired with another defensive midfielder who can help her cover more ground in the middle of the field. She seems to have really found the perfect role for her.
As a back story, she grew up in Henderson Nevada near Vegas and starred at Colorado. She was the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft but missed what should’ve been her rookie year because of all the COVID-related interruptions. She played in Germany, then Orlando, then San Diego. Each place she had some success but was inconsistenty a thing of the past. Now she is thriving.
Before Racing Louisville: Flint (née Kornieck) joins Racing after two successful seasons in San Diego, where she totaled six goals and four assists in 45 appearances between the NWSL regular season and UKG NWSL Challenge Cup. She played a key role in the Wave becoming the first expansion team in league history to make the playoffs in its debut campaign in 2022, and a year later she helped San Diego win the NWSL Shield, given to the first-place team through the regular season.
A three-year NWSL veteran, Flint was the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft, the highest draft selection in Orlando Pride history. The University of Colorado legend is the program’s all-time leader in career assists and points while sitting second in career goals. She was an All-American, four-time all-Pac-12 selection and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, helping CU to three NCAA Tournament second-round appearances.
She spent the COVID-19-interrupted season on loan with MSV Duisburg in Germany before returning to debut for Orlando in 2021, tallying three goals and three assists in 26 appearances across all competitions.
Flint scored her first NWSL goal in her debut – the April 10, 2021, NWSL Challenge Cup match against Racing at Lynn Family Stadium that was the first game in Louisville club history.
International: A versatile midfielder, Flint has two goals in 12 appearances for the U.S. Women’s National Team, with gold medals from the 2022 Concacaf W Championsip and the 2023 SheBelieves Cup.