High expectations breed high pressure, but there was something calming in coach Steve Swanson’s voice as he looked forward on the coming season. His tone and manner neither exuded arrogance nor placed pressure on his team.
“The goal every year is to win an ACC championship and then a national championship,” Swanson said.
It would stand to reason that when a team has been so successful for so long, its head coach would develop a sort of arrogance; but not so with coach Swanson, whose humility is reflected in the modesty of his players.
After being ranked No. 1 in the country before being knocked off by No. 9 Rutgers in a penalty shootout in the NCAA quarterfinals, the Cavaliers enter this season as the No. 4 ranked team in the country — a ranking of little importance to coach Swanson.
“The ranking really means nothing to me,” Swanson said, “we are not yet sure where our team is and for us, we need to start playing games to find out what we’re capable of.”
In their preseason games, the Cavaliers have certainly looked capable, defeating Michigan 1-0 and playing No. 6 West Virginia to a 1-1 draw.
Having lost a fair amount of talent from last season, the team has to rely on its younger players to step up and fill the void.
“We have a young team with a lot of first and second years,” Swanson said. “We all need to work together to get into the right habit and come together as a team.”
Swanson has not seen much of this year’s team yet, in fact, as he has been in Rio coaching the U.S. Women’s National Team in the Olympics. Associate head coach Ron Raab and assistant coach Kerry Dziczkaniec have handled the summer coaching in Swanson’s absence.
“Having just gotten back from the Olympics, I honestly haven’t seen too much of the team yet, but from what I’ve seen so far, we have great potential,” Swanson said. “I like the way our team is working, but we still have a lot to do and a lot to learn.”
It will need to be a quick transition from the international to collegiate play, as he and the team open the 2016 campaign this Friday. On Friday, the Cavaliers head to Lynchburg, VA, to take on in-state rival Liberty in what should be a tense season opener.
“The first game is always difficult, and you don’t really know what the team is capable of doing,” Swanson said. “Liberty has a new coach this year and he did a great job at Western Michigan, and I admire how Liberty plays and competes. No doubt this game will be a great challenge, especially with it being away from home against a tough team.”
A new season of Virginia Women’s Soccer is set to kick off, and irrespective of whether Swanson is willing to admit it, this team is one worthy of the lofty expectations the national media has thrust upon it.
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