Kayla Olson remembers being the new kid at West Salem Elementary School.
She was in fourth grade when her family moved to the village and struggling — as most kids do — to fit in with a new crowd.
Things changed for Olson as soon as Marley Tauscher introduced herself.
“She took me under her wing,” Olson said of Tauscher, “and we bonded really well.”
They connected through playing tag or football instead of with Barbies. Soccer, eventually, strengthened the relationship, and they became teammates as Panthers.
Tauscher’s speed, her instinct and her skill made her stand out on the field. Her personality made her stand out everywhere.
High school soccer coach Lionel Karyea once tried to admonish Tauscher for being too chatty during a practice, but he quickly learned that there was a benefit to allowing her to be herself.
“She was always laughing,” he said with a chuckle. “Always talking.
“I got mad at her once because she was yapping and not listening, but that was her personality and I had to get used to that.”
Olson and Tauscher had regular sleepovers — some of them lasted multiple nights — before they drifted apart in middle school.
“We were starting to get close again as freshmen,” Olson said. “And that’s when she passed away.”
Tauscher’s life was lost in a watercraft accident just over three years ago, but she is still impacting a team of Panthers that is preparing for its first WIAA state girls soccer tournament.
West Salem (16-3-1) is seeded fourth in the Division 3 bracket and will play top-seeded Waukesha Catholic Memorial (18-2-1) in an 11 a.m. semifinal at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee on Friday.
Standing in the Panthers’ path to the championship game are the Crusaders, who are making their 17th state appearance since 2004 and were Division 3 state runner-up a year ago. Catholic Memorial has won 10 state titles, the most recent coming in 2019.
But a soccer challenge can’t compare to a life challenge, and these Panthers have been experiencing one of those for three seasons without the physical presence of their friend.
Tauscher is acknowledged each time West Salem plays as players raise two fingers — to reference her jersey number — before the game starts and again before the second half begins.
Karyea and his players also believe she had some influence on the team’s 2-1 overtime win over Waupaca in the sectional final because the Comets scored a goal 2 minutes into the game, and senior Sam Niemeier tied the score with 2 minutes left in regulation.
“I definitely feel like she is with us,” senior Brynlee Kelly said. “Those goals and when they came, especially the one that tied it, were special. And then to win it, we feel like she was looking down on us.”
That may have been even easier to understand when considering the biggest win in program history — to date, anyway — came on the three-year anniversary of Tauscher’s passing. That immediately had members of the team simultaneously experiencing the elation of a sectional championship and their memories of Tauscher.
“I was definitely overstimulated,” Olson said. “I remember when (Wapuaca) scored the first goal, I was tearing up like, ‘We are tying this game.’ Then we went to overtime, and when we scored that second goal, it was like, ‘We just have to play defense and we’ll do this for Marley.’
“When it got to the last 10 seconds and everyone was counting it down, I was just crying and hugging everyone. It was a happy moment and a proud moment because we pulled through for her.”
