July 3, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia women's soccer head coach Steve Swanson announced this week that Maren Rojas would be joining his staff as an assistant coach for the upcoming season. Rojas comes to Virginia after spending the past seven seasons as an assistant coach at Syracuse University.

"We are extremely excited to have Maren join our staff here at Virginia," comments Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. "I have had the pleasure of working with her during several US National Team training camps and know first hand the kind of energy and knowledge she will bring to our program. Without a doubt she is one of the top young coaches in the country and we feel fortunate to have someone with her character and coaching background join our staff."

While at Syracuse, Rojas helped start the school's soccer program in 1996 and over the next seven years helped the school appear in two NCAA Tournaments and three BIG EAST tournaments. Prior to arriving in Syracuse, Rojas served as the goalkeeper coach for both the men's and women's teams at James Madison from 1994 to 1996. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Rojas has also served as a Region I staff goalkeeping coach since 1997 and a U.S. National staff goalkeeping coach since 2001.

A native of northern Virginia, Rojas was a standout in goal at William & Mary from 1990 to 1993. During that time, Rojas was a three-time team MVP while leading the Tribe to three NCAA Tournament appearances. She is still among the all-time leaders in most goalkeeping categories at William & Mary. Rojas graduated from William & Mary in 1994 and received a master's degree from Syracuse in 2002.