Taylor Green
Courtney BoydTaylor Green's college future has been cemented for quite some time now. Courtney Boyd's became much more clearer Monday night.
The Notre Dame soccer duo made their decisions known Tuesday during senior night festivities for their match against Signal Mountain, a match that could have assured the Lady Irish the 7-A/AA top seed for the district tournament. Green, a goalkeeper, will play for Lee University, while Boyd, a defender, committed to Lincoln Memorial University.
Both universities are NCAA Division II members.
Both players were Times Free Press Best of Preps selections after their 2013 season.
Green committed to Lee in August of her junior season. She briefly -- but only very briefly -- questioned her decision, but in the end the Cleveland school was the right spot for her.
"It's only 20 minutes from my house, and I'm a real home person," Green said. "It's a very small, hands-on Christian school, and I love it there. The coaches are great, the girls are great, and even before I knew I wanted to play soccer in college, I knew I wanted to go to Lee."
Green and Boyd have been playing club soccer together for the past 10 years. They went to separate middle schools, and Green spent her freshman season at Boyd-Buchanan before transferring to Notre Dame. She admitted it would be different not having Boyd helping orchestrate a strong Lady Irish defense that allowed only 13 goals in 11 matches, playing against a top-notch schedule.
Those feelings were reciprocated.
"I have 100 percent confidence in Taylor," Boyd said. "Our defense is strong and our back line is solid, and I know Taylor can do her job in the back."
Boyd flirted with a number of opportunities before settling on the South Atlantic Conference school in Harrogate, Tenn.
"I always knew in the back of my mind that LMU is where I'd end up going," she said. "I'm really excited to have this decision over with, and I'm looking forward to next year. I like the idea of the small environment, and the campus is beautiful.
"The deal is almost sealed; I don't have to worry about it anymore."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.