California Irvine Athletics

Tal Goodman
Year: Graduate Student
Height: 5-10
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Previous College: Penn
High School: Thornhill Secondary School
Major: Advanced Manufacturing
 
Tal Goodman is a graduate transfer from Penn where he was a team captain last year. Goodman finished the season with 23 overall doubles wins and 19 singles victories. He was ranked as high as No. 74 in doubles. Goodman was also an Academic All-Ivy League selection.
 
How did you get started playing tennis?
I lived across from a tennis club so I would go there when I was about four or five years old and started to take lessons. I also played a little bit of soccer and basketball, but not as consistently as tennis.
 
Who has been your biggest inspiration in the sport?
That's a tough one. I would say my idol would be Federer, but my inspiration, there have been so many. There are quite a few guys from my tennis club where I grew up who went on to play college tennis and I aspired to play college tennis just like them, so yeah, too many to name.
 
Where did you grow up and what is your favorite thing about your hometown?
I'm from Toronto, Ontario – the suburbs from Thornhill, but I tell everybody I'm from Toronto. My favorite thing about my hometown is the people I've been around my whole life. I kind of stayed in one spot, so I would say the people I grew up with.
 
Tell us a little bit about your recruiting process and experience at Penn.
I was a short kid at 5'2" my senior year of high school, so coaches were kind of reluctant to take somebody that small, but I was luckily offered a spot if I took a gap year. The (Penn) coach at the time, David Geatz, saw some potential in me and offered me a spot and I took it right away. Then COVID happened so the gap year kind of helped me out, and then I spent all four years there – it was a good experience.
 
Why did you choose UCI for your final collegiate season?
One of the big things I wanted was a good engineering school; good academics has always been a big focus for me. Also I knew the culture of the team. I wanted to win, so a big reason why I came here was because UCI has consistently won the Big West and is always competing. That's my biggest goal, to compete for titles.
 
What is your major and post-collegiate goals?
I'm doing a master's in engineering and I'm concentrating in advanced manufacturing. Right now, the goal is to hopefully get a job in engineering, something industry related. The end goal would be to build some cool vehicles and cars, but anything to start.