After 24 years in the collegiate ranks, Virginia women’s soccer coach Steve Swanson knows storybook endings come only so often. More common is heartbreak, or at least disappointment.
“I’ve been around soccer long enough to know these things — it’s rare that they end up the way you want them,” Swanson said. “You know, that’s just sport, and life in general.”
But for Swanson, this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup will go down as an exception, because the finale — won by the Americans, 5-2, over Japan at Vancouver’s BC Place — could hardly have been sweeter for the red, white and blue.
Last December, Virginia — coached by Swanson since 2000 — competed in the College Cup for the second consecutive year, falling to Florida State, 1-0, in the title match at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida.
Seven months later, Swanson was north of the border — and a champion. As an assistant to U.S. Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis, Swanson shared in the sojourn to the World Cup title.
Needless to say, the last couple of years have been special.
“I’m very grateful, and very proud of the ability to not only represent the University of Virginia but to represent your country,” Swanson said. “It’s an amazing experience and something that I never, ever took for granted [and] never will take for granted.”
The victory in Canada was all the finer because it came alongside two athletes Swanson knows well: former Cavaliers Morgan Brian and Becky Sauerbrunn.
“They both had outstanding tournaments, and they both were difference-makers for our team — there’s no question about that,” Swanson said. “And they’re both amazing role models and great ambassadors for the University of Virginia.”
The two standouts charted divergent paths to Canada, site of the United States’ first World Cup since 1999. Brian’s rise might be called meteoric — she won two MAC Hermann trophies at Virginia, garnered the Mary Garber Award this summer and made Ellis’ roster at 22 years old.
Sauerbrunn arrived already a veteran of the 2011 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Both came up big for the Americans.
Brian — a potent scorer and gifted facilitator whose 125 points rank second in Virginia history — started each of the last three games, taking on a more defensive role to free up midfielder Carli Lloyd, whose 14 points paced the team.
Sauerbrunn, meanwhile, played every minute of every match as the United States ceded just three goals over 630 minutes.
“I think the things that I have known and I have seen over the course of my time working with them, I think the whole world now sees, and that’s a good thing,” Swanson said.
Swanson has known Sauerbrunn — a three-time NSCAA All-American and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 — for a decade-and-a-half. He coached her with the U-16 National Team and said, “I kind of grew up with Becky in a lot of ways.”
Sauerbrunn’s talents, Swanson said, might go underappreciated by the casual fan. She tackles precisely, positions herself just right and remains calm under duress. She is brainy on the field, and is as far from selfish as Canada is from Mars.
“There’s just no better person in terms of just how much you value the team,” Swanson said. “And to see her perform the way she did, and to see America and the world embrace her the way they have, left a smile on my face.”
Swanson, who called his World Cup experience “almost like a Ph.D. in soccer,” foresees a bright future in the American jersey for Brian. The No. 1 overall pick by the Houston Dash in the 2015 National Women’s Soccer League Draft is, per Swanson, a truly special player.
“To come into that situation and perform the way she did is just a testament to how strong a person she is and how amazing a player she is,” Swanson said. “She’s a modern-day player, and I think she’ll be a fixture in this team for a long, long time. And it’s just because she’s humble like Becky, soccer’s her main focus and she plays for the team.”
Now, with the World Cup over, Swanson said Brian, Sauerbrunn and their USWNT teammates will carry the banner for women’s soccer in America.
“I think, can we continue to grow the game in this country — can we continue to push the game forward?” Swanson said. “And I think these players are the players that are going to help do that.”
And Swanson? He’s back home, with his family, and thankful to be with them.
While the World Cup run was exhilarating — unforgettable, even — he knows it’s over now.
“You get back to it,” he said. “You get back to it.”
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