She has played on junior national teams and won the Missouri Player of the Year award in high school, but at the start of this season Becky Sauerbrunn still didn't know exactly what to expect from college competition. In Virginia's exhibition game against Michigan State, she found out the hard way.
"I went up for a head ball, and I just got rocked," Sauerbraun said. "I was thinking, 'Ah, that's never happened before, but I better get used to it.' When you go hard into a tackle you know the forward's going hard into you. There's nothing wussy out there. Everything's hard-out."
Welcome to the world of Divison I soccer, Becky Sauerbrunn.
While the freshman defender might have been taken aback by the physicality of play at first, she has managed to adjust very well to the college game. Sauerbrunn earned a starting spot with a strong performance in training camp, and has been on the field for every second of Virginia's 12 games this season.
"It's amazing, every game that I've seen she's improved even more," senior midfielder Missy Somadelis said. "It's awesome to have her back there. She's a first year, but you can't tell she's a first year on the field."
Sauerbrunn's grasp on the starting sweeper position wasn't so secure to begin with. She came into camp with a quartet of veteran defenders and was initially frustrated with the experience. Sauerbrunn had doubts about her place on the team when she would be assigned to run with the second group instead of the first team.
"It was tough at first, with the experienced defenders here and coach knowing those players really well," Sauerbrunn said. "Sometimes, when we would break up into groups it would be frustrating and coach would say 'You're just constantly second-guessing yourself.'"
It took Virginia coach Steve Swanson and assistant coach Maren Rojas sitting down with Sauerbrunn to ease her mind and get her focused on playing the game.
"I had a talk with Steve and Maren during preseason," Sauerbrunn said. "They told me 'You can't worry about that, you can't keep second-guessing yourself. You just have to play and through your playing we'll decide if you can start or not.'"
Sauerbrunn stepped up to the occasion and found herself scheduled to start in the Cavaliers' season opener against West Virginia.
"It was surreal," Sauerbrunn said. "I was definitely extremely nervous going into that game. I didn't sleep at all that night before."
Judging by her performance in the opener, Sauerbrunn might want to consider staying up all night before every game. The freshman played with poise beyond her years, making minimal errors and helping the Cavaliers shutout a strong Mountaineer team that won nine straight after falling to Virginia.
Sauerbrunn and the Cavalier defense continued to put forth impressive performances, including six shutouts and a 433 minute streak without allowing a goal.
"Our defense works so well together," Sauerbrunn said. "It really doesn't feel like you're an individual out there; you're always in a group. It's like a miniature team inside the team."
After initial confusion, Sauerbrunn has found her place in this unit and has quickly become one of the most indispensable players on the Virginia defense.
Sauerbrunn has been dealt some bumps and bruises along the way, both to her body from an aggressive Spartan defender and to her confidence from assignments in practice. As rough as it was, however, her success shows that her orientation to Division I soccer was an effective one.
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