The Placer United Girls Cup Tournament is in the books and we hosted a record 210 teams at the event! Additionally, there were a number of college coaches in attendance to watch the action and recruit players for their colleges.

Three Placer United teams won their groups and played in championship games.

The U11G 03 Red team played in the Super Group of the event and there were many of the top teams in Northern California represented. The girls opened with a convincing 4-0 win versus Pleasanton Rage. In game two, the girls drew 1-1 with Peninsula in a tightly contested battle. In game three, the girls handled Mustang Fusion 3-1 and advanced to the final. In the final, the girls were matched up against West Coast Fury. This matchup included two of the top teams in Northern California battling for the championship. It was a back and forth game with both teams having scoring chances but the girls came up on the short end, 2-1.

The U14G 00 Red also played in the Super Group of the event. There were many tough teams in this division. In game one, the girls opened up with a 2-0 win versus Ajax Modesto and thwarted a few attacks by the Ajax front runners. In game two, the girls had an identical result, 2-0 over the Cal Northstars. Needing only a draw to advance, the girls played Crossfire from Oregon to a 1-1 draw and a place in the final. The opponent in the final was the South San Jose Bay Area Fusion, a team littered with skilled and physical players. The girls conceded a goal early but then got into a rhythm and scored two goals before halftime. That result stood and the team brought home the championship with a final score of 2-1.

The U15G 99 Red girls competed in the Super Group and some of the top teams in the state were competing. In game one, the girls survived a rough start giving away an early goal but stormed back with a 4-1 victory over Orchard Valley. In Game two, the opponent was Butte United Intensity. This was a physical battle and the girls came out on top 3-1. Needing only a draw, the girls faced the other undefeated team in their bracket, Santa Clara Sporting Green. This was a back and forth affair and the Placer United girls scored a late goal to tie the game at 2-2 and reached the final. Waiting for Placer United in the final was Lamorinda. The wind had picked up and whomever had the wind in their favor seemed to have more of the run of play. The girls were up 2-1 and survived a late rally of scoring opportunities to bring home the championship.

All in all, the tournament was a massive success. All of our Placer United teams played extremely well on the weekend with a number of them barely missing the final. Congratulations to all of our teams on a great weekend and a special thanks to all of the parent volunteers who helped out to make this event one of our best tournaments ever!

Caitlyn Kretzschmar

Caitlyn Kretzschmar scored the game winning goal in the 10th minute of the extra time to give the University of San Diego women’s soccer team (4-2-0) a 2-1 win over the Missouri Tigers (3-3-0).

Missouri outshot the Toreros 20-13, but the Toreros constantly put pressure on the Tigers, putting 12 of those shots on target.

The Toreros got on the scoreboard first, when Mariah Butera scored her first goal of the season in the 34th minute when she connected from 20 yards out.

The Toreros would take a 1-0 lead into halftime, however the Tigers knotted the match up in the 64th minute after Reagan Russell found the back of the net with a rocket shot.

The score would remain tied through 90 minutes, forcing extra time. The first overtime period was winding down when Kretzschmar found herself one-on-one with the Tigers’ keeper after a giant blast from Michelle Craft. Kretzschmar was able to dribble past the keeper and slip the ball in to the empty net to give the Toreros a split in the Texas A&M Tournament.

Sydney Pagador

Sydney Pagador, and her Phillipines National teammates, have been hard at work preparing for the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship which begins tomorrow in Myanmar.  The team has been training and playing friendly matches in preparation. Reached via email, Sydney is having an unbelievable experience and looks forward to the tournament.  “It has been so much fun!” said Sydney. “ I have been playing right back in a 3-6-1 formation and I have learned a lot since I have arrived. We are all very excited to begin the tournament!”

The Phillipine Malditas, despite a rookie-laden roster, look forward to reaching the semifinals of the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship late this month. “This team may be young, but I believe it is stronger compared to the team that saw action in the AFF women’s tourney last year,” said head coach Ernie Nierras.

The Malditas, assured of competing in the Southeast Asian Games this December, have been grouped with Japan’s Under-23 side, Indonesia, Laos and host Myanmar.  The team is leaving tomorrow for Yangon, Myanmar (fka Burma) for the big event: ASEAN Football Federation Women’s Championship. Games are from Sep. 9 to the 23rd. The Philippines is grouped with Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Japan U-23 (wow!). Winner of this group will battle against the winner of the other group composed of Vietnam, Thailand, Jordan, Australia U-19. The roster is full of U-19 girls.

Nierras said the Malditas had a good draw up until the powerhouse Japanese were included in the group, where only the top two teams will clinch semifinal seats. But the coach added he expects his side to beat Indonesia and Laos with the duel against Myanmar serving as the key to their semifinal hopes.

The other group is made up of Australia, Malaysia, Jordan and Vietnam.

The PH booters open their campaign  against Indonesia on Sept. 10.

U10B Red Win Davis Clasico with Coach Kevin

At 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning all around Placer County, the ringing of alarm clocks, followed by the grinding of coffee beans and the sizzle of bacon and eggs was heard loud and clear. “Why?” you ask. Err Hello! It was the start of the new 2013/14  EPL season.

When the final whistle blew, Liverpool went to the top of the league. It was time for families to pack their bags and jump into their soccer transporters as Placer United teams were off to compete in tournaments in Davis and Woodland.

Out in Davis we had four Placer United teams make the finals on a sizzling hot Sunday afternoon. On the girls side the U11G White team went into the final unbeaten in their bracket play. They girls played tough and hard but couldn’t replicate the same energy and soccer they had produced in the earlier games due to the hot sun.  With the game tied 0-0 they were eventually beaten on PKs.

Over on the boys side, the U11B White team also topped their bracket and went into the final on the back of  playing some really good soccer and scoring some quality goals. They started the final really well and got their reward with a good goal. But with five minutes left, the weather eventually took its toll and they conceded two late goals to lose out 2-1.

The U11B Red team continued to show why they are one of the top teams around as they started the tournament exactly where they left off the weekend before, winning their three bracket games  and advancing to the final. In the final the boys started off  really quickly and notched up two goals before half time which was enough to secure back-to-back tournament wins.

In the U10Boys Premier Division, the Placer Boys Red team ran away with the title. After scoring 19 goals in bracket play they produced another goal fest in the final as they ran out 6-0 winners to cap off a great weekend of soccer for Placer United teams in Davis.

Over in Woodland, we had both the U16 Boys teams competing in the Premier Division of the Woodland Cup.  The Red team won the Championship game 6-0, and the White team finished 4th overall. Both teams battled really well and were really exhausted as they entered the tournament on the back of a week of high school tryouts.

Big congrats to all our teams competing in Davis and Woodland. A special mention for Maclean Learned, the U11 Boys Premier Final MVP, and Chase Tanon, the U10 Boys Premier Final MVP. Way to go guys!

As you can see it was another great weekend of soccer. Stay tuned for more!

Cody Sunquist at the Milk Cup during the Liverpool Academy game against Southhampton. Photo courtesy of sports photographer, Damian McKee

Placer United’s Cody Sundquist is off again only this time he’s not traveling twelve hours around the world to play. He’s making the one hour trip to L.A. to participate in the latest U14 National Team 9 day Camp at the Home Depot.  READ MORE.

Cody visited Liverpool FC this past March to train with their Academy teams. He was invited back to England for a full month of training this summer where he had the opportunity to play with their  ‘98 squad at the prestigious Milk Cup Tournament held every year in Northern Ireland.

Way to go Cody! Congratulations from all of us at Placer United!

Placer United U11B Red, Santa Clara Sporting Invitational Champions

The Placer United U11B Red team, coached by Matt Bernard, won the Santa Clara Sporting Invitational this past weekend. The boys played six top ranked teams in route to the championship and were undefeated the entire weekend. They played Turlock FC, Mustang Roma, Almaden FC and Santa Rosa United in the first half of the weekend. The boys finished with a definitive 5-1 win over San Juan in the semi-finals and beat Ajax 1-0 with a goal in the last 90 seconds of regulation to bring home the championship.  CHECK OUT THIS GOAL!

Contributed by Michelle Schreiner

U10G Red at Mustang Stampede

It was a great weekend for Placer United Soccer Club at the Mustang Stampede this past weekend. All of our teams were seeded in the top division of the event and faced solid competition. Five of the teams made it out of bracket play and into the quarter-finals. Placer United showed great club culture and spirit as players and families were able to watch and cheer for the other teams in the club.

Additionally, a few college coaches were also in attendance at our U15 games as they were evaluating the age group.

The U14G Red reached the semi-finals. They opened up with a 3-1 win over the WFC Rangers of Washington. In Game #2 the girls had a 3-1 win over the DeAnza Force. In Game #3 the girls played the Camarillo Eagles from down south and came up short in a 1-0 defeat. Their results were still good enough to push them into the quarter-finals against the NW Nationals of Washington. In the quarters, the girls had a 1-0 lead for most of the game and then the Nationals tied the game with one minute remaining. The game went to two golden goal overtime periods and the game was still deadlocked. The girls came out victorious in the penalty kick shootout to move into the semi-finals. In the semi’s the girls drew 0-0 with San Juan and then lost 4-3 in kicks.

The U15G Red also made it to the quarter-finals after competing well in group play.  The girls opened up with a 1-0 win over the VSC Storm from Cal-South. They had many scoring opportunities to extend their lead and held on for the win. In Game #2, they saw the Irvine Strikers and dropped the game 4-1. In this game, the girls were very unlucky as they rang the crossbar/post three times and had many scoring chances. After the defeat the girls rebounded with a 3-0 win over the DeAnza Force. After a few injuries the girls limped into the quarters and had a good showing versus Mustang but fell short.

The U13G Red had a great showing and won their group with two wins and one draw. In Game #1 the girls played a very powerful DeAnza Force squad and won 2-0. In Game #2 the girls had a 5-0 decision over Washington Premier. In the final group game the girls drew 1-1 with the Santa Rosa Riptide. The girls then faced the Burlingame Rays in the quarter-finals. The game was back and forth with great possession, quality scoring chances and fantastic defensive work by both teams. Burlingame scored early in the second half and withstood numerous chances by our Placer girls.

The U11G Red dominated the opposition in group play with three consecutive wins. They scored five goals and did not concede a goal.  They defeated the State Champion West Valley Magic and the Pleasanton Rage by the score of 2-0.  In Game #3 the girls defeated the Mill Valley Rockers 1-0.  In the quarter-finals, the girls dominated the entire game versus Barcelona with great possession and numerous scoring chances, but could not find the back of the net.  Barcelona scored a late goal against the run of the play to move on to the semi-finals.

The U10G Red also won their bracket with two wins and one loss. The girls opened up the tournament with a 5-1 score line.  In Game #2 they took a 1-0 loss to the Stockton Storm in a back and forth match. The girls rebounded to win the bracket with a 2-1 win over Santa Rosa. In the quarter-finals the girls battled to a 1-1 draw through regulation and sudden death overtime but fell short in penalty kicks.

The U12G Red had a great weekend of soccer and showed a very classy playing style, keeping great possession and creating numerous scoring chances throughout the weekend.  The girls opened up versus Cascade FC from Oregon. This was a back and forth affair with both teams attacking relentlessly. The game ended in a 3-3 draw. The girls played great soccer in Games #2 and #3 versus Loomis and Santa Rosa but came up on the short end.

Congratulations to all of the players, families and the soccer club. What a great weekend!