By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The National Women’s Soccer League kicked off a new season in February, and former University of Virginia standouts are, as usual, well-represented on NWSL rosters.
In the 11-year history of the NWSL draft, 22 players from UVA have been selected, the most recent being Talia Staude, whom the NC Courage picked in January. Several other former Cavaliers are playing professionally overseas.
UVA is one of only two schools to have had at least one player selected in each NWSL draft.
“We are proud of all our alumni playing at the professional level, especially since development is such a key component of our coaching philosophy,” Virginia head coach Steve Swanson said.
During the recruiting process, Swanson said, he and his staff are “very specific about our goals. Among those, we want to graduate our players, win ACC and NCAA championships, and develop our players for the next level. Development is critical to the culture of our program. Most, if not all, of our players have aspirations to play at the next level.”
UVA has 18 alumnae on NWSL rosters, tied for third-most among college programs. Wahoos in the league include Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett, who also are members of the U.S. Women’s National Team. They did not overlap in Charlottesville—Sauerbrunn’s final season as a Cavalier was 2007, and Sonnett’s was 2015—but each believes her experience at Virginia has helped her thrive as a pro.
In the NWSL and in international matches, Sauerbrunn said, players are drawn from various countries, and “so you’re basically getting an influx of all these different styles and ideas, and it can take a second for you to get used to the pace of the game—not just the physical pace, but the pace and speed that people make decisions with. And so for me, I know the jump was both the physical, because you’re playing against women that potentially are stronger and faster than you, but also women that really understand the game.
“As a central defender, for me the jump was, ‘OK, I’m playing against this person that sees this, that plays this way. How do I position myself in a way that can negate everything that makes her special?’ And I think Steve really helped me with that.”
However gifted his players might be, Swanson knows talent alone will not ensure their success at the highest level of the sport.
“He wants there to be some sort of…