Former Wayzata girls soccer star making Canadian football history

Maya Turner always had the strongest leg on her soccer teams growing up, so she handled goal kicks and set pieces. She could really boom it.

"People would joke that she should kick field goals," said her mom, Jen.

Turns out, that wasn't a bad idea.

Turner, a former college soccer player from Wayzata, is now a college placekicker for the University of Manitoba, and she's quite good at it.

Her résumé includes a game-winning field goal in double overtime in her first career game and a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of a close game two weeks ago.

Turner also owns a piece of history as the first woman to play in a U Sports football game. U Sports is Canada's version of the NCAA as the governing body of college sports in that country.

"She's not doing it to show the boys that she can do it as a woman," Manitoba coach Brian Dobie said by phone. "She loves football. She's a competitor."

Turner never envisioned this path. She played soccer year-round for Wayzata High and her club program. She continued her career in college at Loyola University Chicago. She gave everything to that sport until she had nothing more to give.

Turner ended her career before the start of her sophomore season in 2021 feeling "really burned out."

"I realized I didn't like the sport anymore and it just wasn't making me happy," she said. "I needed to quit soccer for myself."

She hoped to play another sport at the club level. Maybe hockey or rugby. She attended a club sports fair on campus and noticed a booth for football.

Turner has always loved watching football with her family. She decided to try out for the Loyola club team as a kicker, even though she had never kicked a football.

She borrowed some equipment from a friend and came home one weekend to practice kicking with her dad Bart at Wayzata High.

"I was pretty good at it considering it was the first time I had kicked a football," she said.

She made the club team and enjoyed the experience so much that an idea sprouted.

"I thought with some coaching, I could improve more and maybe play in college," she said.

She started training with a personal coach in Milwaukee through the Kohl's Kicking camps. She attended a kicking camp in Texas over winter break. She also trained with Twin Cities kicking coach Chris Husby three days a week for a month before heading back to school for spring semester.

Husby, who kicked at St. Thomas before starting his Special Teams Football Academy, noticed right away that Turner had a strong leg and that she picked up his instruction quickly, calling her an "ideal student."

"Her technique was so flawless," Husby said. "The guys who would train with her were in awe of how pure her swing is."

Husby made videos of Turner's kicking sessions to send to college coaches. Turner estimated she contacted 100 coaches at different levels, including Canadian schools, hoping to be given a chance. She focused on schools that offered her major: Fine Arts specializing in graphic design.

Turner studied team rosters to learn more about their kicking situation. She contacted coaches multiple times with her videos, calling herself "really persistent and determined."

"I knew it would be pretty difficult for me to find a team that would want a female with limited experience," she said.

Dobie happened to be looking for a kicker in recruiting that year. He was impressed with Turner's video, but he preferred to see a kicker perform in an actual game. Dobie admitted he didn't respond to Turner right away as he considered other options.

"We would compare film and we just liked her better," Dobie said.

He invited Turner and her parents to campus for a recruiting visit. Dobie wanted to watch her kick in person. It was April 2022, a "breezy, cold Manitoba day," said Dobie, noting conditions were hardly ideal.

Turner participated in a kicking session with the team's senior kicker who was graduating that year. Other players came to watch, including a few team captains.

She put on a show.

"She was hitting everything," Dobie said. "Our decision was made. We just went, 'She can do this. She's good.'

"It wasn't just the performance. It was everything. Her whole demeanor is another thing that sold me. Her approach, her professionalism. I'm sure she was nervous, but she didn't come across that way."

Dobie has been a football head coach for 49 seasons, the past 28 at Manitoba. He didn't feel the need to address his team formally about adding a woman to the roster because word had already filtered out from those who witnessed Turner's workout.

"Several came over to me and said, 'Coach, she's the real deal,'" Dobie said.

Dobie shared an important message with Turner when she accepted his offer to join the team.

"You're going to have disappointments and setbacks and failures, as with any athlete," he said. "But just know that you're a Bison football player and we're going to have your back."

Turner said her teammates accept her "just like I was any other player on the team." The culture and level of support inside the program and the athletic department put Turner's parents at ease.

"When your child is following their passion and they work hard and they're happy, there's just nothing better," mom Jen said.

Turner redshirted last season after a decorated U Sports kicker transferred to Manitoba for one final season.

Roster restrictions on game day kept Turner out of uniform early this season because kickers also preferably handle punting duties, which Turner doesn't do. But she got the green light in the fourth game, setting up a historic moment in Canadian sports.

"I was definitely nervous anticipating that moment," she said.

So, too, were her parents, who attended the game along with Turner's sister and grandparents. She was perfect in her performance: 2-for-2 on field-goal attempts and 3-for-3 on extra-point tries against Regina.

Her 21-yard field goal in the second quarter made her the first woman in U Sports history to play in a game. Her teammates took turns congratulating her as fans gave an extended ovation, including Regina fans who made the trip.

"I thought, 'Wow, this is a moment,'" Dobie said. "That doesn't happen very often when the opposing fans are in a prolonged standing ovation for an athlete on the other team who just scored points on them."

Turner, who also handles kickoffs, drilled a 48-yard field goal in a rematch with Regina two weeks later to give her team a 26-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

"The team went nuts," Dobie said. "That's a real-deal kick at any level anywhere. That's a big kick at Alabama. That's a big kick at the University of Minnesota."

Turner has made nine of 12 field goals (one was blocked) and 12-of-12 extra points this season.

She knows the story of Sarah Fuller, though they have never spoken. In 2020, Fuller, also a former college soccer player, became the first woman to score points in a Power Five college football game as a Vanderbilt kicker.

Turner intends to take her kicking career as far as she can. She sees no limits.

"It's definitely possible for a woman to compete at the kicker position," she said. "Just getting more girls into football is the first step to that."

. . .

IN FOCUS

Walk-off winner

Brayden Kleine answered his phone Sunday night with a chuckle. The Shakopee junior was still trying to process his walk-off touchdown from three days earlier.

"Absolutely unreal," he said.

Kleine admits he felt a moment of dread after Blaine kicked a field goal to pull ahead of Shakopee 52-50 with 21 seconds left.

The teams had combined for 46 points in the fourth quarter alone at that point. The situation did not look good for Shakopee.

"I said, 'No way we lose this game,'" Kleine said.

He made sure of it with a play from every kid's dreams.

Down to a final play at its own 45-yard line with 2.6 seconds remaining, Shakopee called a Hail Mary for the 6-2 Kleine, who lined up on the right side of the formation.

Quarterback Leyton Kerns heaved a high-arching pass to Kleine, who leapt at the 22-yard line and grabbed it. Two Blaine defenders near him collided on the jump ball and fell, leaving Kleine a clear path to the end zone with no time on the clock. Sabers win, 56-52.

The touchdown allowed Shakopee to finish the regular season 5-3. Kleine caught two passes in the game, both along the same sideline, both resulting in touchdowns. The first one was a 45-yard score in the second quarter.

The second one was something he'll never forget.

"I'm absolutely blessed to have experienced that moment," he said.

. . .

VIKINGS

Season-altering win

The tenor of the Vikings season changed after Monday's 22-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The long climb out of an 0-3 hole is essentially complete. At 3-4 now, the notion that the Vikings should be sellers at next week's NFL trade deadline is no longer applicable. FAM awards weekly game balls below, but the Vikings had more than a few worthy candidates in the victory. The superlatives:

* Kirk Cousins played perhaps his best game in a Vikings uniform, especially considering he was facing one of the NFL's top defenses without Justin Jefferson and with T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison battling different ailments. Cousins had total control of the offense.

* The offensive line has been an area of criticism over the years, but that group more than held its own against the 49ers' physical front. Cousins threw 45 passes and was not sacked once. That is remarkable.

* Addison. It was clear from the first day of training camp that the rookie receiver has special physical ability. He's just smooth as a route runner, and he's putting his talent on display in Jefferson's absence. Imagine a tandem of Jefferson and Addison for years to come.

* Camryn Bynum. The reliable safety led the defense in tackles, forced a fumble and had two interceptions, including the game-clincher. That's the definition of a player changing a game.

* Brian Flores. Remember all the frustration last season over the lack of aggressiveness under the previous defensive coordinator? Flores' arrival and ultra-aggressive mentality have been so refreshing. His impact cannot be overstated.

. . .

WEEKEND REWIND

Game balls

Dragan Kesich: Gophers kicker handled all of his team's scoring with four field goals in windy conditions in the 12-10 win over Iowa. He became the first Gophers kicker to make four field goals in a game since 2016.

Hope Adebayo: St. Thomas running back rushed for a career-high 197 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries in a 38-6 win over Stetson.

Cade Sheehan: Augsburg quarterback accounted for seven touchdowns — four passing and three rushing — in a 56-36 win over St. Olaf.

He said what?!

"It's a win for this team, it's a win for the staff, it's a win for our state. Just everything involved with Minnesota right now, it's a good feeling."

— Gophers defensive lineman Danny Striggow after his team's first win at Kinnick Stadium since 1999.

Numbers to know

12: Yards allowed by the Gophers' defense in the second half to Iowa.

30: Years since the Gophers held Floyd of Rosedale and Paul Bunyan's Axe at the same time.

3: Conference records broken by former East Ridge quarterback Zach Zebrowski in a win Saturday for Division II Central Missouri. Facing Emporia State, Zebrowski established conference records in passing yards (615), passing touchdowns (8) and total yards (673).

61.1: Regular-season scoring average of No. 1-ranked Nine-Man team Mountain Iron-Buhl, the defending state champions, who allowed only 32 points in eight games.

. . .

UP NEXT

Grab your popcorn

Tuesday, statewide. The march to the Prep Bowl begins for high school teams throughout the state with section playoff games. Good luck to all.

15-yard penalty

Iowa fans were understandably upset when Cooper DeJean's touchdown on a punt return in the final two minutes was overturned by review. Throwing beer cans and debris onto the field is never excusable. The Gophers briefly had to move away from their sideline onto the field to avoid being pelted. Not cool.

An important 48 hours for:

Joe Ford and Trey Dill. The defensive coordinators for Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth, respectively, will be on opposite sidelines Saturday but both will face a high-scoring offense in a matchup of one-loss teams. Both Bemidji State and UMD rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring.

. . .

A FAM FINAL WORD

"Invalid"

The Gophers have suffered some excruciating gut-punch defeats over the years. They looked destined to add another chapter to the archives when Iowa's Cooper DeJean returned that punt for a touchdown in the final two minutes. But in what will forever be remembered as the "invalid fair catch signal game," the Gophers found themselves on the opposite side of heartbreak, holding the pig.

. . .

Thank you for reading Football Across Minnesota (FAM), my weekly column that tours football topics in our state from preps to pros. I'll publish this each Tuesday morning in time for your lunch-hour reading, and you can find all the previous FAM columns right here. I appreciate feedback, so please reach out anytime. Thanks again — Chip (@chipscoggins on X)