California Palms goalie Taylor Moreno doesn’t only save goals, she scores them.

In the final minute of the second quarter against the New York Charging on Friday, Moreno stepped up from below goal-line extended and caught a low-angle shot by Charging forward Belle Smith. Moreno then took off down the middle of the field. She ran past Charging forwards Meg Carney and Meaghan Tyrrell to slide a bounce shot by Charging goalie Madison Doucette for the first goalie goal in league history.

“Not gonna lie, the first half of [that play], I totally blacked out,” Moreno said. 

“Once I picked my head up to look initially for one of my teammates breaking, I just saw the sea part and I realized everyone was sucked down. So I started to take off because I thought if I'm running, at least one of my teammates might be able to come up beside me and I can at least throw an assist. But as I started running I looked up at the clock and I saw 50 seconds left. I thought, ‘Honestly, if there’s going to be a time to try it, it’s going to be right now.’ So I just kind of tunnel visioned, I said to myself, ‘Don’t lose the ball, don’t trip and don’t miss.’”

Moreno paired the goal with one assist and 12 saves in the Palms’ 16-14 loss to the Charging. 

“I probably could’ve ran a little bit faster and caught her,” Carney said of Moreno’s goal postgame. “That was really annoying, she was right in front of me. The goalies, that’s part of Sixes, they can go over and they can score. Knowing that threat is possible and getting back in on defense and not getting sucked too far in on offense [is crucial].”