Taylor Bishop becomes program changer at West Milford by Sean Farrell of The Record
WEST MILFORD – The first impression was nothing special.
Christian Conway heard the hype and had his doubts.
The West Milford coach somehow never met Taylor Bishop through his time as a middle school teacher and was skeptical about the buzz that surrounded her.
Then Bishop quickly made him and everyone else a believer.
“The first couple of practices, I said I don’t know,” said Conway, then the Highlanders’ assistant. “Varsity? She’s all right. Then all of a sudden in the third practice, something happened and she did this one move. I said, yes. Now I see what you’re talking about. From that point on, she was just phenomenal for us.”
Now a senior, Bishop scored six goals in the Highlanders’ 17-10 win over Passaic Valley in Monday’s Passaic County quarterfinal round. Humble and unassuming on the sidelines, Bishop is known simply as a “beast” on the field by teammates and those around the program. The Mercy College-bound Bishop leads the Highlanders in scoring for the second straight year and continues to be one of North Jersey’s elite players. She’s closing in on a few program records as well.
“My teammates help me succeed and thrive, Bishop said. “I rely on them. I don’t know how I’m going to play next year. I’ll make new teammates, but I’ll miss them.”
Bishop doesn’t take a game off.
What’s most remarkable about Bishop isn’t only her 52 goals this season, but her consistency. She has hat tricks in 10 of 11 appearances and didn’t need long to continue that trend in Monday’s game. She immediately got to work after West Milford (7-4) won the opening draw, driving to the net and giving her team a first-minute lead. The Highlander attack was unrelenting from then on, burying 13 shots in the first half alone. Once again, Bishop did her part.
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“It’s her intensity,” Conway said. “She’s so intense. She wants the ball. She wants to get in there. She wants to score and win games. When she goes out there, she’ll do whatever she needs to do to make that happen.”
With Bishop, the Highlanders have one of the most prolific offenses. Their average output of 12.55 goals per game is fourth in North Jersey and ranks in the top 20 percent of the state. Part of that comes from the chemistry between seniors Siobhan Murray, Amanda Fredricksen and Miranda Marchetto. They were in fourth grade when the town’s youth lacrosse program began.
“It’s our last hurrah so we’re really working together and we’re getting this done,” Murray said. “We’re the leaders now so it’s all on our back.”
Bishop actually started out in softball before being convinced to switch in fifth grade by a current teammate. A four-year starter, she’s recorded at least 27 goals in every season and earned more respect of late by taking on a bigger defensive role.
For West Milford, the win gives them a second chance against No. 1 seeded Lakeland in a rematch of last year’s semifinal. For now, Bishop will try to make another first impression go away.
“She’s just a beast,” said Murray, who’s assisted on many of Bishop’s goals. “She finds the hole and can do amazing things with her stick. Taylor especially has taken that burden on of getting stuff done and scoring so we can have a good season and a good record.”