Ryan Hollingshead, FC Dallas #12

After taking a year off from the game, Ryan has slowly but surely shaken off the rust and started to make the kind of  impact FC Dallas expected when the signed the former UCLA and Placer United standout late in 2013. Hollingshead #12 made such a huge contribution in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup semifinals against Philidelphia that head coach Oscar Pareja had no hesitation in starting Ryan for the second time as FC Dallas beat the Earthquakes 5-0 on Saturday in San Jose.

Coach Pareja said after Ryan’s big semi final performance “I learned that he’s accountable, and that he’s ready to contribute more for this team and it’s great news for us.”

Said Ryan who feels good about his latest contribution ” I feel like my game is getting stronger and stronger.The main step for me now is getting more games  because there’s only so much you can replicate in practice. I could feel at times during the games I was playing like I used to play, I felt like I was quick and could run at people.”

“Playing like he used to play” is something that bodes very well for FC Dallas as they are now on a 9 game unbeaten run and indeed, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the last two games  were the most competitive minutes Hollingshead has seen in a match since late 2012 where he won PAC-12 Player of the Year at UCLA.

Way to go Ryan!

Go Placer! Go Dallas!

The U18B Black team traveled to Pleasanton this past weekend to represent the Club at the Ballistic United Summer Classic.  In a flight of 12 teams that included several top 10 and top 20 ranked sides, the boys fought hard and ended up taking 3rd place.  The weekend didn’t start out as desired with a 3-1 loss to a good Merced Atlas team which was very strong on set pieces. Knowing that their work was cut out for them after losing the opening match, the boys rallied, winning 6-0 Saturday afternoon against a team from Oakley to keep their weekend hopeful.

Needing another win against Milpitas Sunday morning to advance, the team showed up strong and played great soccer, but for 59 minutes and 30 seconds, couldn’t get a goal across the line.  That changed in the final 30 seconds as midfielder Lantz Shope won a ball at midfield, and spotting winger Brendan Allen making a run and drawing most of the Milpitas defense, he slotted a great pass to striker Pablos Carlos in the box who beat one defender and then the keeper to score literally as the referee looked at his watch and prepared to blow the final whistle.  With the 1-0 thrilling win, the team advanced to the 3rd place match.

After giving up an early goal against Manteca in the playoff match, the team got their composure back in a physical, hard fought battle, equalizing late in the first half on a stunning goal from Connor Entz who would not be denied.  The second half remained knotted at 1-1, and after some…interesting…officiating, the Placer team found itself playing down two men and the Manteca team down a man, for a net one man advantage to Manteca. The boys in yellow stayed strong however, surviving the final 5 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of overtime without conceding.  With kicks from the mark now the determining factor, the Placer lads were down 3-2  after 3 rounds.  Another miss from Placer left the team hanging by a thread, with any further miss or Manteca conversion would end it.  But Manteca forgot to factor in Alex “The Wall” Vazquez.

SAVE! – the Placer Goalkeeper made a huge diving save right to keep it at 3-2.  After captain Brendan Allen scored to equalize at 3-3, Vazquez SAVED again with a perfect dive to his left!  As the sequence moved to sudden-death kicks, Shope converted for Placer to give the squad the lead at 4-3…and then Vazquez came up big again with a huge kick SAVE to ice it and give the team a thrilling win!

Coach Cory Clonce expressed great pride in the team coming back from an opening loss to reel off three straight wins and get a great result for the weekend.  Go Placer!

Erika Garcia

Erika Garcia

Alumni, Erika Garcia, Placer United 93 Gold, was selected to play for the Full Mexican Senior Women’s National Team. The Harvard University defender will take on the USA Women’s National Team in September.

Mexico will travel to the US for two fixtures, September 13th in Salt Lake City, Utah, and September 18th in Rochester, New York.

These games are a tuneup for Mexico as they begin World Cup qualifiers in October for a chance to compete in the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada. Mexico will name it’s final roster for qualifying next month.

Good luck Erika!  We are so proud of you!

U18B Gold – 2014 San Diego Surf Cup Champions

U18B Gold Team Captain, Corban Anderson accepts the award for MVP Player of the Tournament

The Placer United U18B Gold were crowned “Big Kahuna” yesterday at the 2014 San Diego Surf Cup. The boys, who narrowly lost the State Cup final to Marin FC on PK’s got their revenge by winning the Surf Cup Super Group Final by three goals to one. They brought home their second Surf Cup winner’s trophy in ten months.

The boys really produced some gutsy performances over the long weekend and yesterday’s final was no different. With the scoreboard showing 1-0 at the half to Marin FC, the team knew they had to step it up if they wanted a 2014 Surf Cup Champions jacket.

In the second half, the crew of U18 Yellow Sub really showed their winners mentality as the newly crowned NPL National Champions continually pinned the current Nor Cal State Cup Champions into their own half.

When new sub man, Danny Puablo, fired a missile into the top corner there was no stopping the boys in yellow as they were now riding all over the big blue waves of Marin FC’s defense.

The defining moment in the game came when Nathan “Big Country” Miller was denied the go ahead goal by a Marin defender who stopped the ball from crossing the line with his hand. The referee didn’t waste any time or hesitate to award the PK and a red card.

With regular PK shooter “Bird Man” Heptner getting treatment for an injury, and the boys all looking at each other, Thomas “Quiet Man” Arnstein calmly walked out of the crowd and took the ball from the referee. The boy from Truckee, who obviously has Tahoe ice water running through his veins, calmly placed the ball in the bottom corner and the Yellow Sub entourage went ballistic. With the man advantage on the field the boys sealed the victory and the game with a third goal from none other than “Captain Clutch” Corban Anderson.

What a great run of success and huge source of pride for the boys, the parents and everyone connected to our soccer club. Over the last three back-to-back weekends, the U18 team have played a total of 17 games. They have won 16. tied 1, scored 43 goals, only conceded 5 goals, and picked up three major soccer trophies.

The Clutch, Corban Anderson, also picked up another back-to-back Tournament MVP award as he was named the Boys Player of Surf Cup by the Surf Cup Committee.

Congratulations to all the players, parents and coaches of the U18 boys.

Go Placer!
“We all live in a Yellow Submarine”

With over 200 women’s college soccer coaches in attendance at 2014 Surf Cup, the Placer United U16 and U18 Girls produced some really strong displays.

The U18 girls, who have thirteen U17 players playing up. had a very tough bracket as they played all U18 ECNL teams. They opened up against West Coast FC, one of the top ECNL teams in the country and tied 1-1. In Game 2, the girls drew with the talented Mustang ECNL squad 1-1. With a chance to advance to the semi-finals, the girls needed a win against Real So Cal ECNL. It was a back and forth affair with both teams having a couple of great chances. Real So Cal scored with ten minutes to play and our girls pressed on the attack with multiple scoring chances but could not convert. The Real So Cal GK made a few unbelievable stops to preserve the win and advance. Real So Ca ECNL team made it all the way to the Super Group final and narrowly lost out 1-0.

The U16G 99 Gold also had a very tough bracket which contained two strong ECNL teams. They started the tournament off very strong with a 2-1 victory over Ahwatukee SC from Arizona. The girls were down 1-0 and came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals to seal the victory. In Game 2, the girls faced a good LV Heat ECNL squad out of Nevada. The girls came out flying and burst into a  2-0 lead. Heat ECNL FC clawed their way back and scored but the girls wouldn’t be denied a good victory over an ECNL team and stayed strong till the end. Game 3 saw the girls play eventual Surf Cup winners Arsenal ECNL out of L.A. Arsenal were very athletic, organized and had a lethal attack. The girls were down 1-0 at halftime but began to find a rhythm and create some scoring opportunities. Midway through the second half, the Arsenal left winger had a special moment and they went up 2-0.  Placer then had to press forward and chase the game, throwing numbers forward into the attack. With a few minutes remaining as Placer was attacking, Arsenal broke free on a counter attack and scored the final goal of the game. The girls finished with two wins and one loss. But they can be proud of their performance especially against  Arsenal ECNL girls team that went on to win Surf Cup.