Arizona State University Women’s Soccer Players Aly Moon (left) and Jessica Raybe (right)

Jessica Raybe, ’97, just finished up her sophomore season at Arizona State University.  It was a great year for Jessica as she found the back of the net FIVE times for the Sun Devils. Raybe received two awards at the end of the season sports event:  “Most Improved Player” and Co-Offensive “Most Valuable Player.”

“These were awards were voted on by my teammates,” said Raybe. “It was a real honor and I am so happy that I chose to come to ASU because it has had such an amazing impact on my life.”

Congratulations on a great year Jess!

Placer United U12B 04 Gold – 2016 State Cup Finalists

Saturday, February 6th will go down as an unlucky day for Pacer United when both our U12 04 Boys Gold and U13 03 Girls Gold teams lost out in the finals of State Cup.

The U12 boys went into their last game of a really brilliant 2015/16 season with only one lost game all year, but came up short on the big day to a good Bay Area Barcelona team. The boys, who had come back from the jaws of defeat a few times during the course of the year, couldn’t find a way to get the tying goal and take the game into overtime as they narrowly lost out by a score of two goals to one.

Placer United U13G 03 Gold – 2016 State Cup Finalists

The U13 girls also came up short by one goal in their last game of the season, finishing three to two in favor of CV Magic. Twice the girls fell behind and twice the girls answered back only to concede a third heart breaker with 5 minutes to go in the game. The girls threw everything at the Magic in a frantic last five minutes, but just like the boys, couldn’t find the tying goal to take the game into OT.

Congratulations to both our teams on making the NorCal State Cup finals — ending your seasons as the #2 team in NorCal is a really great achievement!

Great job to everyone. Go Placer!

By: Steven Wilson, Sports Editor – The Press Tribune

Emily Talmi plays high school soccer with the Granite Bay Grizzlies.

February 6, 2016 — Granite Bay High sophomore Emily Talmi — along with her Placer United teammate, Abena Aidoo, from the under-16 ’00 squad — was selected as part of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) team to play in the Region IV friendly tournament in Costa Rica this month. The tournament features the top eighteen 2000 age-group players, selected from the local region to play a number of friendlies at the international level held February 25 through March 3 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

“When I first heard about this, I was astonished,” Talmi confessed. “This is one of the greatest honors I could get at my age. In the future, hopefully things like this will come around again, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Talmi was selected for the ’00 ODP Regional Team, earning recognition as one of the area’s best youthful talents.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to go out of the country and play strong teams from Costa Rica,” she added.

Although the honor comes with a chance to visit a new and exciting destination, Talmi admitted she didn’t get much notice to pack her bags and board a flight.

“To be honest, I didn’t really get full warning about this trip,” she said with a laugh. “But a week ago, I got an email from the ODP staff saying I was chosen to play some friendlies from Costa Rica with some of my teammates from region four. But the email didn’t really say who we will be playing or what other teams are going.”

The ODP Region IV team consists of players selected from the western U.S. states from Colorado to Hawaii. Talmi has been on the team for approximately four years, but will make the journey to Costa Rica for the first time in her life.

“I’ve been to Mexico before, but that’s the farthest I’ve traveled out of the United States,” she stated.

The Granite Bay High standout is also involved in a local Player Development Program (PDP) team and she has already committed to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo for the 2018 season.

“They’re just basically programs that try to get you to the next level, which would hopefully be the national team,” Talmi pointed out.

“Out of every tournament I’ve played in, I think this one will be the most beneficial because you get to play against teams that are coming from way different cultures and much different backgrounds,” she added. “The way they’ve been taught to play (the game of) soccer is probably crazy different than how we’ve been taught.”

Talmi believes this stage will help her open up her game and expand her horizons as a player.

“You watch the national teams play in, for example, the Women’s World Cup and you see Japan connecting the ball and it’s nothing like how the U.S. does it,” she explained. “Getting to play like that will be unbelievable.”

But Talmi won’t be alone on the trip. She was selected with one of her Placer United teammates and will be joined in Costa Rica by a friend from Hawaii and a few more players from Northern California.

“Sadly, Abena won’t be able to go because she just had surgery on her knee, but it’s still exciting to play with some of my friends,” Talmi said.

Talmi wanted to thank the coaching staff at Placer United and Ron Benjamin for their training and preparation in this process.

February 3, 2016 — In a continued effort to improve player development, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy program will expand its academy program to include an Under 12 age group, and an Under 13 age group. The existing Under 14 academy structure will change to include one age group starting in Fall 2016.

USSF Soccer Director of Scouting, Tony Lepore, explains, “Existing Development Academy clubs will now add a Under 12 age group, and then split to single age groups at the Under 13 and Under 14 ages. This will help streamline and simplify the development pathway for the Academy clubs, while creating a consistent environment from Under 12 and up for the elite level player.”

“These new steps  will help improve the overall environment at an earlier development stage and help clubs create a more consistent, step-by-step pathway for players to learn,” added Lepore.

The opportunity to provide a simplified development environment for players will have a direct impact on their advancement as players,” said US Academy Director Jared Micklos. “U.S. Soccer will continue to invest resources and work together with our clubs to serve as the leaders in the community to collaborate with local clubs to provide players with an opportunity to grow.”

In addition, U.S. Soccer and the Academy will focus on improving the coaching environment through enhanced educational opportunities, license requirements and support from U.S. Soccer Technical Staff. In an effort to continue to increase the quality of coaching for younger players, Academy coaches will move away from a results-driven philosophy, apply consistent standards for training and games, and unify player development initiatives and standards across the country.

“When Placer United was selected in 2013 as the Under 14 USSF Development Academy club for our area it was a great honor and privilege for all involved within our club,” said Placer United Director of Operations, Paul O Brien. “To enter the 2016 season having the ability to field three different USSF Development Academy age groups is a true testament to all the hard work everybody has put forth both on and off the field within our soccer club.”

“From our coaches, who have continually sought more and higher levels of training and education; to our club administration and board of directors who have worked to support the goals of the staff; to our parents who believe in our club philosophies; to our alumni at both the college and professional levels for paving the way for future players; and to all our current players who proudly wear our colors, I would like to thank you all for keeping our soccer club moving in a very positive direction.” said O’Brien

Placer United will hold an informational meeting to outline their Academy plans on February 11, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. at the Placer United Soccer Indoor Training Center in Rocklin.

Go Placer!

Links

• USSF Development Academy Launches U12 Program
• USSF U12 Divisional Alignment Diagram

Placer United U12 Boys 04 Gold with Coach Paul O’Brien

Congratulations to the Placer United U12 Boys 04 Gold team as they now join the Placer United U13G 03 Gold team at the NorCal State Cup Finals on Februry 6th in Modesto.

Similar to our U13 Girls, the U12 Boys won all their games in opening rounds one and two and were feeling good going into the knock out rounds.

In the quarter final game, the boys were drawn against #1 ranked Santa Clara Sporting and came out on top with a 2-1 victory to advance into semi-final round with goals from Chase Tanon and Luc Summers.

In the final four round the boys were up against a highly talented Central Marin FC team who had just defeated the higher ranked San Jose Earthquakes team in their quarter final game to deservedly take their place in the top four.

The semi-final round was truly a great advertisement for the youth game as both sides played at a really good pace while producing some fine soccer. With the score 1-0 to Marin FC at the half, the boys in yellow showed some great team character as they came back to win 2-1, both goals coming from Luc Summers, and advanced to the NorCal State Cup Final.

The U12 Boys have kept an incredible 2015/16 season going as they now have played 45 games, won 39, tied 5 and lost one to the team they will now play in the State Cup Final, Bay Area Barcelona.

Great job guys, good luck in the final. Go Placer!

by Chad Smith, ReportingKC.com

Conner Hallisey (22) looking on before the game against FC Tucson. Photo Credit: Chad Smith, ReportingKC.com

February 1, 2016 — With just over a month until official Major League Soccer action is set to begin, Sporting Kansas City played their first preseason game, a 60-minute scrimmage against USL Premier Development League side FC Tucson. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance as I was earlier in the week during practice.

The Starting XI for Sporting KC were: Tim Melia, Amadou Dia, Ike Opara, Nuno Coelho, Chance Meyers, Lawrence Olum, Roger Espinoza, Jordi Quintilla, Graham Zusi, Dom Dwyer, and Brad Davis. I wouldn’t read too much into the starters as Soni Mustivar and Benny Feilhaber are clearly day one starters and didn’t come out until the second team took the field.

The game got off to a bit of a slower start with everyone seeming like they were just trying to get their feet under them. Possession was a bit sloppy early, which is to be expected in the first scrimmage of preseason.

Finally, a little over half way through the first 30-minute half, Dom Dwyer made a steal and found Brad Davis in the box. Davis was able to put it away for the first goal of the preseason. Just moments later Davis was able to return the favor as he found a streaking Dwyer who notched the second goal of the game, putting Sporting KC up 2-0 before halftime.

The only real threat from FC Tucson came off of a set piece that led to a chance on goal. Tim Melia came through huge, as he did so many times in 2015, as he parried the ball over the bar with an excellent save.

At the half the entire roster substituted out. The 11 players on the field for Sporting KC in the second half were: Alec Kann, Seth Sinovic, Tommy Meyer, Kevin Ellis, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Soni Mustivar, Paulo Nagamura, Benny Feilhaber, Connor Hallisey, Jacob Peterson, and Justin Mapp.

In the second half the team wasted little time adding to their lead. Conner Hallisey stole the ball and started to drive on goal. He sent a pass to Benny Feilhaber who immediately tapped it back to Hallisey on a quick one-two. Hallisey drove on goal and put it away to bring the score to 3-0.

The only bad thing that came out of the scrimmage was Jacob Peterson ended up leaving with an injury. As he left the field with a trainer I overheard them indicating it could be his ribs. Let’s hope the injury is minor and he was just removed as a precaution.

After the transfer of Krisztian Nemeth yesterday, the forward position is an injury or two away from being in a state of desperation. When Peterson was removed he was replaced by fourth round pick, Faik Hajderovic, from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft.

Once Peterson was off the field and play resumed, Sporting would add a fourth goal. Justin Mapp made a steal deep in FC Tucson’s territory, worked through a series of defenders, and sent a pass to Hallisey as he made a run at goal. Hallisey tapped it home for his second.

The 4-0 lead would be all Sporting needed in this 60-minute long scrimmage. All around it looked like the players were getting their legs under them, and they did what they should have done in defeating a lower division team.

After the game, Connor Hallisey had what appeared to be his first post game interview. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the microphone as he prepared. Let’s hope that he continues this trend of being in the right place at the right time.

“The first goal, I just did a one-two with Benny and finished far post,” Hallisey said following the game. “The second goal Justin did a lot of good work to win the ball back high up the field. He passed it to me and it was just a tap in. Last year I had a couple of chances I wanted to put away and it feels good to get out there and do it right in the first game. It kind of gets the monkey off my back.”

Sporting will have a another scrimmage before returning back to Kansas City. They will then return to Tucson, Arizona for the Desert Diamond Cup later in February. The first match of the tournament is February 17, 2016 against defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Columbus Crew.

Emily Talmi with former USWNT standout,
Tiffeny Millbrett

Emily Talmi and Abena Aidoo of Placer United U16 ’00 have been selected to play for Region IV in Costa Rica next month.  The top eighteen 2000 age group players were selected from the region to play a number of friendlies at this International event held February 25-March 3 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Abena Aidoo