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Feb. 10, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Steve Swanson has been named the head coach ofthe Virginia women’s soccer team, effective immediately, as announced byVirginia Senior Associate Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage. Swansoncomes to Virginia from Stanford, where he was the Cardinal Head Coach forthe last four seasons. He carries a career record of 104-63-11 toCharlottesville.
“I am extremely fortunate to be headed for a university andathletic program as highly regarded as Virginia’s,” says Swanson. “It isone of the top schools in the country academically and athletically,especially in regard to its soccer programs.”
During his four-year tenure at Stanford, Swanson compiled a recordof 49-28-4 and three NCAA tournament bids, including a trip to the thirdround in 1999. The Cardinal were the Pac-10 Champs in 1996 and 1999.Swanson was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1999.
Prior to heading the Stanford program, Swanson built the DartmouthBig Green into a national powerhouse. In his six years at Dartmouth,Swanson built a record of 55-35-7 and guided the Big Green to the NCAATournament for the first time in school history (1993). In 1991 Dartmouthwon the Ivy League title for the first time and he duplicated the title in1993. Under Swanson, the Big Green also earned their first-ever nationalranking in 1993 and concluded the season ranked in the top-20 in both 1993and 1994.
Said Littlepage, “We are pleased to be able to attract SteveSwanson to be our women’s soccer coach. He has vast experience in highlycompetitive academic and soccer programs. Following a coach like AprilHeinrichs is a big challenge, but Coach Swanson has the track record of acoach that can continue moving our women’s soccer program forward.”
Swanson holds an “A” license from the United States SoccerFederation and has coached both youth soccer and at the high school level.He is a 1984 graduate of Michigan State where he was a four-yearletter-winner for the Spartans and their captain and leading scorer in1984. Following graduation, Swanson played professionally in both theUnited States and Canada. He was the MVP of the National Soccer League inCanada in 1987.
Swanson and his wife Julie have two daughters, Alex, 10, andKelsey, 7, and a three-year-old son, Sam. “Virginia’s facilities, thestrong tradition of success within the women’s soccer program, the caliberof youth soccer in the state, and the beauty of the campus and surroundingcommunity are also appealing to me and my family.”
The Cavaliers concluded their 1999 season with a 3-2 tripleovertime loss to the Hartford Hawks in the third round of the 1999 NCAATournament. Their 1999 record was 13-9. Stanford and Virginia faced off in1999 at the Coca-Cola Classic. The Cavaliers rallied for a 3-2 victoryagainst then-#23 Stanford after being down 2-0 with 22 minutes to play.