After finishing last season No. 1 and landing a berth in the NCAA quarterfinals, it was clear there would be high expectations for the Virginia women's soccer team this year. However, an unsettling lack of depth, primarily at the midfield position, has tempered some expectations for the 2006 Cavalier squad.
"Late in the spring it became apparent to us that we were down a lot of players," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "We lost [midfielder] Kristin Bowers to a tibia and fibula break. And we knew at that point that [midfielder/defender] Megan Ashforth was going to be out."
Compounding the problem, senior midfielder Shannon Foley was out for the first half of to this season because of a leg injury. Then in June, All-ACC freshmen team members Jess Rostedt and Nikki Krzysik were selected to the U-20 national team, causing them to miss several games at the beginning of this season.
In stepped Nikki Lieb, a graduate student who had played soccer for the Cavaliers during her freshman year in 2002.
In high school, Lieb was highly talented in both soccer and lacrosse, winning a combined four state championships -- one in soccer and three in lacrosse. Lieb was a two-time high school All-American and the 2002 Gatorade Player of the Year for Pennsylvania.
During her freshman year, Lieb made almost immediate contributions to the soccer team, playing in 19 games and registering over 600 minutes on the field. However, Lieb decided after her freshman year to focus on lacrosse. That decision, which proved worthwhile in hindsight, was not easy for Lieb.
"It was a hard decision to quit soccer," Lieb said. "It was a huge part of my life and like everyone else on the team I am sure, a part my life since I was like five years old."
Lieb accomplished much in her four-year hiatus from soccer. During her lacrosse career at Virginia, she was a member of the 2004 national championship team. In addition, she earned consensus first-team All-American honors three consecutive years, was last year's National Defensive Midfielder of the Year and was a finalist for the 2006 Tewaarton Trophy, the most prestigious honor bestowed in collegiate lacrosse.
After accomplishing so much in the sport of lacrosse, Lieb ended up needing a little prodding by Swanson to be persuaded to return to the soccer team this year.
"My playing for the team my fifth year wasn't always the plan, although I think it had always been in the back of my head since I stopped playing after first year," Lieb said. "It took a little initiative from Steve [Swanson]--he initiated it but I was definitely right there to agree."
Lieb is using her final year of collegiate eligibility for the season. NCAA rules state that a player has five years of eligibility, but only four years of playing any given varsity sport.
"She has accepted the challenge and worked her way right in," Swanson said. "We always felt she'd be a good leader because she has already been through a lot of things with the lacrosse program and certainly she has already played with our team."
Despite Lieb's natural athletic ability and pre-honed soccer skills, the transition to the team this year was not necessarily easy.
"I think she was just a little nervous about getting her touch back on the ball and the conditioning," Swanson said.
Lieb also has had to find ways to balance her increased workload with her athletic endeavors.
"I am in the Curry program student teaching right now," Lieb said. "It is really exhausting since I am student teaching all day every day and then coming right to practice and games. I am so happy to be playing though; I think its one of the best ways to release stress."
Lieb and the Cavaliers are off to a 7-2-1 start this season, garnering a No. 16 national ranking and sharing a first-place lead in the ACC with No. 4 UNC. The Cavaliers look to continue their winning ways Thursday night in an ACC showdown with Florida State.
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