The 03G Gold beat off tough competition to take first place in this year’s Girls Las Vegas Players Showcase for the U14 age group. The girls played a total of 5 games in the top division this past weekend scoring 11 goals and conceding 0. Results included a 2-0 win over LA Galaxy South Bay, 1-0 over Pleasanton Rage, 5-0 over Sereno ECNL and a 3-0 win over the Scottsdale Blackhawks in the semi-final.

The final was against a very strong Las Vegas Premier SC ended with a penalty shoot out after 0-0 in regulation time. Goalkeeper Emma Hoffman pulled off two fantastic penalty saves to crown the girls tournament champions! A special thank you to Coach Sarah for standing in to coach the girls for the weekend.

The club also had a number of additional teams at the College Showcase.  There were over 500 colleges represented as they scouted the action.

The U17G Gold had a great run through the event in the Mandalay Bay division.  They beat the Eugene Timbers 4-1 and the Pateadores 2-0.  They then had a tie versus West Coast EGSL 1-1 and a 4-1 loss to Arsenal Colorado. The girls ended up as finalists in the group. Well done!

The U18G Gold ended the weekend with three wins and one loss in the Mirage Division. They beat the Oceanside Breakers 3-2, the Minnesota Thunder ECNL 6-1, and Las Vegas Neon 3-2.  Playing for the championship on the final day, the girls lost one 0-1 decision to the Slammers.  They ended up as finalists as well.

Congrats to all of the teams that played in the event. It was a great showing for the soccer club and all of the players received a lot of collegiate exposure. Great job to all!

Casey Tate

Placer United is pleased to announce the addition of USSF A licensed coach, Casey Tate, to the 2017 coaching staff. Casey, the former Director of Barcelona North and San Juan SC Nevada, arrives at Placer United from the University of Nevada where he spent seven years as both the head coach and assistant coach.

Before taking a position at UNR, Casey enjoyed great success at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School in Arizona where he was the girls’ soccer coach and physical education teacher. During his tenure at Seton Catholic he won two Arizona high school state titles in 2006 and 2007, was named Arizona State Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008, along with Region Coach of the Year 2007, 2008, and 2010. Casey was twice named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007.  Also while in Arizona, Casey was an assistant coach on the Chandler-Gilbert Community College staff for eight years with numerous national academic and soccer awards, along with a fourth place finish at the NJCAA Junior College National Tournament. He was an Arizona Olympic Development Staff coach for four years and helped run their YOP program. Casey coached youth soccer with the Gilbert Arsenal Soccer Club as well as coached for the WPSL Northern Arizona Cheetahs.

When Casey got to Nevada in 2010, he established an affiliation between Total Futbol Academy and an existing local club and formed Barcelona NorCal Soccer Club. As the Director of Coaching, Casey made trips to Barcelona’s famed academy in 2012 and 2013 to gain more knowledge of how they train and develop players for the highest levels. At Barcelona, Casey studied under the guidance of former Barca B and FC Barcelona Youth Academy Coach Jordi Vinyals. In 2014 Casey traveled to England and spent time studying at Manchester City’s academy to see how they worked at developing top youth soccer players. In 2014 Total Futbol Academy and Nevada Elite Football merged to become San Juan SC Nevada and Casey was hired as Director of Coaching.

“Casey brings a great wealth of coaching experience both on and off the field and will be a great addition to our club,” said Paul O Brien, Placer United Director of Soccer Operations. “He not only has a good insight into the outdoor game but also has a futsal background and knows first hand how that game fits into a club structure like Barcelona. That will be invaluable as Placer is always looking to continuously move our club forward. Keep an eye on the Placer website for news of the upcoming Placer United Futsal Program,” added O’Brien.

Casey played at the collegiate level at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Indiana Institute of Technology, and Arizona State University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Ottawa University in History. Casey brings over 15 years of coaching experience at the youth club, high school, ODP, national coaching schools, community college, semi-professional, and Division 1 college levels.

Career Highlights

• USSF National A License
• University of Nevada Women’s Head Coach (2010-2016)
• Director San Juan Nevada (2014-2017)
• Director of Barcelona Nor Cal (2010-2014)
• Nationally Certified US Soccer Licensing Instructor
• Arizona State ODP and YDP Staff
• International Coaching Education, Barcelona, Spain (2012-2013) and Manchester, England (2014)
• Program Director and Creator “Winter Futsal Program” Total Futbol Academy, Reno/Nevada and Barcelona NorCal Soccer Club (2011-2016)
• Glazier Clinics Seminar Speaker, Topic “Why Futsal?” (2016)
• NSCAA Futsal Diploma
• NSCAA Special Topics “Futsal Mentor and Youth Coaching”

FULL RESUME

This wasn’t the first time a State Cup final was battled out between Placer United and Santa Rosa United. The two Clubs have a history of competing hard fought finals, and this match was no different. With a welcome relief from all the rain, a sunny afternoon in Modesto produced another topsy-turvy classic!

SRU came out sharp and scored within the first five minutes of the game, taking advantage of some defensive nerves. As the half progressed, Placer grew into the game but without creating too many clear-cut chances. The game was direct and physical with both sets of defenders doing well to deal with aerial balls. With halftime drawing close, SRU were indebted to their outstanding goalkeeper for producing a couple of top class saves to keep the game at 0-1.

Coach Don rallied the girls during halftime and Placer United came out flying, only to be undone several minutes into the second half by a fabulous strike from distance, making the game 2-0 to SRU. Placer United didn’t let their heads drop and hit back quickly, Archana Jeyarajah nudging home at the far post from an in-swinging corner to give everyone hope of a come back. Placer continued to push for the equalizer but were continually thwarted by the impressive SRU Goalkeeper. In the final minute, the break through came via a familiar source. Nalani Damacion’s shot from distance was expertly tipped over by the GK; from the resulting corner, Jeyarajah was again on hand to prod home in an almost identical goal to her first, to level at 2-2 and take the game to overtime.

Placer United certainly had the momentum and were awarded a penalty early into the OT. Once again, however, the SRU goalie came up big for her team and managed to save the spot kick, diving low to her right to clutch the ball. Nerves started to set in on both groups and the remainder of overtime was played out without too much incident, meaning the game was headed to dreaded penalty kicks.

Both groups dealt with the tensions incredibly well, scoring all eight of the penalty kicks. With PK’s tied at 4-4 and SRU up next, Goalkeeper Alyssa Savig produced a marvelous save to give the advantage back to Placer. We had to score to win the cup! Up steps Erica Grilione, undeterred from her PK miss earlier in the game to confidently slot home to give Placer United the victory and title of 05G State Cup Champions. Congratulation to all the girls and Coach Don on a remarkable season and epic comeback! Go Placer!

With close to fifteen current Placer United Academy players invited to USSF National training centers, the 2016/17 season has been a break out year for Placer United Soccer Club and it’s USSF Academy teams. On the field the boys have played some really good soccer against professional clubs like San Jose Earthquakes and Sac Republic FC, as well as renowned youth soccer clubs De Anza Force, San Diego Surf and La Jolla Nomads, to name a few

“Simply put, if you want to be the best you need to play against the best,” said Placer Academy Coach Paul O Brien. “The boys really look forward to each weekend because they know they will be challenged both physically and mentally in every game.” Across the teams in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 age groups,  Placer has played  over 58 Academy games so far this season and won 47 of those games. “It’s a great achievement for our club,” O’Brien reflected, “Especially when some of those victories have come against professional club Academy teams.”

“Changes really started about two years ago when we took a good look at our club and realized we needed to make some improvements in certain areas,” explained O’Brien. “We looked first at our approach to Academy soccer. We worked on redefining our Vision and Mission statements,  Coaching Philosophy and Style of Play so that it became a lot simpler to teach and articulate to our players and parents what we wanted to do and how we were going to go about doing it. It was also something we wanted everybody involved to be able to see on the field during training and games, beyond the words spoken or written on a powerpoint.” said O’Brien.

“Having the ability to field three academy teams is a real game changer,” added three year Academy coach Kevin Unsworth. “We are now able to create a more challenging environment, one in which our younger players have the opportunity to play on the older Academy teams if we feel it would help in their development, as well as let the existing players know they need to keep working hard to stay on our Academy teams. We are very upfront with the players and parents and let them know this philosophy at the start of the season. We took four 2004’s to the 2003 USSF Academy Showcase in LA. We also have had a few 2003’s play up on the 2002 team and really make an impact in those games.”

O’Brien continued, “After seeing the success of our Academy teams this year, we are ready to start implementing a few more improvements within the club and that’s going to be pretty exciting. Being involved in the Academy system has made me and the other coaches really think differently about our approach to games and training sessions. This is just one of the reasons I like being involved in the USSF Development Academy. Basically, I’m being held accountable by USSF and it doesn’t get any higher than that.”

Take a look at Placer academy boys in action:

Click Here for the Placer Academy Tryouts schedule.

Manuri Alwis (L) and Kellie Pagador (R) pose with players from the 2003 Girls Japanese Soccer Academy

Eight Placer United female players were selected and competed in PDP games this past weekend.  In game #1, the 2002 PDP team played against the Japanese Academy team.  The game was back and forth with lots of goals being scored.  The Japanese won the game 6-4.  Placer players Kellie Pagador (03) scored two goals and Manuri Alwis (02) had one.

In game #2, the 2003’s were in action in a north versus south northern California battle.  Six Placer United players competed in the match.  03’s Emma Schafer, Grettel Sainz, Emma Hofmann, Karley Garcia, Paulina Caja and Malia Damacion (04). The players did an outstanding job in a 2-2 draw.

Congrats to all of the players on a great day of soccer!

Video of Game Highlights:

by: Steve Wilson, Sports Editor – The Press Tribune

Roseville resident and Sacramento Republic FC Academy U18 midfielder Ryley Kraft was selected to train with the U.S. Men’s U-19 National Team during the team’s domestic camp in Sunrise, Florida this past week.

The local soccer standout made a name for himself with the U.S. U-19s as they played a pair of friendlies against El Salvador and Miami FC, Feb. 3-10.

“There’s only 22 kids selected for this camp in the nation, so I’m honored to be one of them,” Kraft admitted. “It’s a very rare opportunity, but it’s exciting.”

This is Kraft’s first call up to the ranks of the U.S. Youth National Team. The midfielder has made 16 appearances with Republic FC’s U-17/18s team during the 2016-2017 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season, starting in 13 of those games and registering six goals.

“Physically, the program has really helped me get stronger, which has helped me elevate my game,” Kraft admitted. “I’ve learned how to play faster, because the speed of play is faster — I’m constantly playing against bigger, faster, stronger players.”

Kraft, who spent over a half decade competing for the Placer United youth teams, earned a national team bid via participation in the U.S. Development Academy.

“It’s hard to know what to expect at that level, because this was my first call up,” Kraft acknowledged. “But I just try to play with confidence and do what I do best.”

In his team’s opening game, Kraft found the net in the 62nd minute of action as he tied the game at 1-1 with a header. His goal came after a penalty from El Salvador in the final third and a place kick from the far side of the field. Kraft was the beneficiary of a deflection from his teammate as he swarmed to the net and finished off the play.

With his participation this week, Kraft could be called to compete for the national team again, this time for an international competition.

“I’ll have to wait and see if I’m selected, but it’s definitely a possibility,” he added.

Already a high school graduate, Kraft will play the rest of the season with the academy team in hopes of earning a contract, but he’s also considering the prospect of playing soccer at the collegiate level next year.

Kraft returns home Friday from his National Team bid and will rejoin the academy as the Republic get set to host the Seattle Sounders FC U-17/18s at Cosumnes River College Saturday, Feb. 11.

Placer United 05G Gold

On Sunday February 12th, the Placer 05 Girls Gold team will play the Santa Rosa 05 Girls team for the chance to be named Nor Cal State Champions. The Placer girls have really hit top form since the start of the new year scoring a total of 22 goals in their last 4 games as they blew away the competition on their march towards the final. This will be Coach Don Finley’s third successive Nor Cal State Cup Final having won the Cup in 2015 and narrowly losing out in 2016 with the Placer 03 Girls Gold team. Says Finley, “The game will be a tough one for the girls as Santa Rosa is a very good side. But Placer has won against some very good teams on the way to the final including some ECNL teams. I’m confident our girls will give it their all just like they always do.”

Big Congrats to the Placer 05 Girls and good luck in the final. Go Placer!