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24 CAVALIER CORNER BY BILL BUNTING W hen Virginia head coach Steve Swanson and the Virginia women's soccer staff were put- ting together the 2022 recruit- ing class, the search for top talent took them north when forward Meredith McDermott of Nashua, N.H., caught the eye of the Cavaliers. McDermott, the 2021 New England Prep School Player of the Year, intrigued Swanson and his staff after seeing her perform for her club team FC Stars and her high school, Buckingham Browne & Nichols. "When we recruited her, the first thing you notice is her physical qualities," Swanson said. "She's very fast, very agile and quick; she has a lot of tools on the physical side. "On the technical side, she also did some things that made us very interested and ex- cited about her — especially when you look at our style of play. It was a natural attraction when we first evaluated her, but once we met her and met her family — she's a team player, she has good leadership qualities and sets a good example in how hard she works." Swanson and the coaching staff went to work on recruiting the forward to the pro- gram and it paid off with a little help from a visit to Grounds. "Virginia is such a great school academi- cally and athletically, so that was definitely a pull to make me want to go here," McDermott said. "I came and visited Grounds with my Dad and knew it was where I wanted to be. "But the biggest thing was the coaching staff is all amazing. Getting to meet them, hear what they had to say and know they are amazing coaches was the biggest thing that made me want to come here. This was one of my top schools to come to because of how invested Steve and [assistant coach] Ron [Raab] were in the process. You could tell they cared, and I knew they would care about my development and my life going forward." Upon arriving on Grounds, though, things didn't go exactly as planned as McDermott contracted mononucleosis — a setback that would linger throughout her first year as a Cav- alier. She had her classes early on to keep her focused after arriving on Grounds in the sum- mer, but she was also able to stay involved and bond with her teammates at practices. After missing the first few matches in 2022, McDermott made her debut as a Cavalier against Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 28. The for- ward continued to see limited action through- out the rest of the season, appearing in 14 games and registering more than 20 minutes of action in only half of those contests. "Getting any sort of minutes was some- thing I was grateful for because I hadn't played at the collegiate level, so getting any game time and experience was good for me" McDermott said. "It was good to put it out there and be able to play, even if it was lim- ited minutes. That was very helpful for me." After tallying an assist against No. 23 Memphis on Sept. 4, McDermott wouldn't find herself on the scoresheet again until the Cavaliers' NCAA opener in the team's second matchup with Fairleigh Dickinson in November when she capped the scoring in a 4-0 vic- tory for Virginia. On that goal, McDermott put on display the speed and agility Swanson had seen as she raced past a defender for a breakaway, streaking down the left side of the field before cutting into the box and beating the keeper for the score in the 84th minute. STEPPING UP STEPPING UP Meredith McDermott Has Emerged As An Offensive Focal Point For The Women's Soccer Team " She's given us a real lift in terms of goal scoring with the players we lost to graduation last year and the injuries we had coming into this year. She's really stepped up in that regard and we're going to need her to continue to do that. UVA HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON ON MCDERMOTT