While they receive much less publicity and are not as recognizable as head coach Steve Swanson, women's soccer assistant coaches Maren Rojas and Hershey Strosberg also play key roles in every Cavalier victory.
"To me, we're a unified staff. We just have different roles and different responsibilities," Swanson said. "I know for a fact the success of our program has everything to do with my assistant coaches."
Rojas, who has returned as an assistant coach for her third consecutive year, played as a standout in goal for William & Mary from 1990 to 1994. During that time, she was a three-time MVP and named to the regional All-American team twice.
"Maren is very involved, especially with her role in preparing the goalkeepers," Swanson said. "She's done a great job preparing Laura [Comeau] and Celeste [Miles]."
Before coming to Charlottesville, Rojas helped launch the soccer program at the University of Syracuse. She assisted the Orange team in making it to two Big East Tournaments as well as three appearances in the NCAA Tournaments. She has been an assistant soccer coach at the Division I level for 12 seasons now and said she aspires to be a head coach one day.
"I'm very fortunate to work for someone like Steve Swanson," Rojas said. "So I'm not in any hurry, but I think my long-term career goals are to be a head coach."
Alongside Rojas is her fellow U-14 Region coach and friend, Hershey Strosberg. Entering his fifth year with the Cavaliers -- he joined the team as a volunteer assistant in the spring of 2001 -- Strosberg has the responsibility of coaching field players and serves as the recruiting coordinator.
"It's the place to be," Strosberg said. "Working with Steve at a school like Virginia with what it has to offer athletically and academically -- it's an ideal situation for a coach."
Strosberg played for SUNY-Cortland from 1995 to 1996 and was selected as a regional All-American. After an ACL injury in 1996, he assisted the Cortland coach and his teammates until he graduated in 1997.
Before coming to Virginia, Strosberg played for the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues from 1996 to 1998, representing the United States in the 1997 Maccabiah Games.
Both Rojas and Strosberg have contributed immensely to the Cavaliers' success, using what they have learned from their own prior soccer experiences as well as what they have gained in their work with this season's volunteer coach, Ron Raab.
Raab, who was a Cavalier assistant coach from 1997 to 2000, has rejoined the team after three seasons at the University of Evansville.
He also attended William & Mary, where he was a three-year letter-winner for the Tribe and set the school record for goals in a game in their victory over Christopher Newport in 1987.
In addition to assisting Swanson and the Cavaliers, the three assistants are responsible for a variety of organizational duties.
"We do everything from recruiting to budgeting to assisting in all the practices, game-day operations, alumni relations -- a lot of community service, clinics, camps and travel," Rojas said. "We're kind of all over the board."
Swanson said he feels fortunate to have such motivated and experienced coaches working alongside him.
"We're lucky because of our whole coaching staff," Swanson said. "I think we've all got different strengths that we each try to utilize as much as possible."
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