Erika Garcia, sophomore defender for Harvard University, collected All-Ivy second team honors this season. Garcia, a member of Mexico’s U20 National team pool, moved from playing a forward position to anchor the defense for the Crimson. Harvard posted seven shutouts in the season. Garcia is a former Placer United player from the ’93 team.
Category Archives: College Bound
Lexi Giusti Named to First Team All NEC Division III
Sophomore forward, Lexi Giusti of Lesley University, was named to the All NECC Division III first team all conference. Giusti tallied 9 goals and 7 assists in the season for the Lynx. By winning the NECC Championship, the Lynx received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Giusti is a ’93 alumni player for Placer United.
Placer Alumni Gollnick and Mitnick Named PacWest Players of the Week
Lauren Gollnick
SAN RAFAEL, CA — Dominican University of California men’s and women’s soccer players collected weekly Pacific West Conference honors. Freshman LaurenGollnick has been named the women’s Player of the Week while sophomore Kolby Mitnick has been named the men’s Player of the Week.
Gollnick, who earns the honor for the second time this season, led the Lady Penguins to a 1-0-1 week in Hawaii by totaling seven points on three goals and an assist. The Meadow Vista, California native and former Placer United player, scored her third game-winning goal and added an assist in a three-point effort in 3-0 win at Chaminade University on October 26. She also scored both goals and finished with four points in a 2-2 double-overtime tie at Hawaii Pacific University on October 28. In PacWest play, Gollnick is fourth in points and tied for third in assists.
Kolby Mitnick
Mitnick earned the honor on the men’s side after he totaled seven points during a 1-0-1 week for the Penguins. The former Placer United and Newcastle native scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-2 win at Chaminade University on October 26, finishing the game with five points. He was credited with the game-winner, his team-leading fourth of the season, and helped rally the Penguins from an early 2-0 deficit by scoring goals in the 33rd and 60th minutes.
Mitnick also led the Penguins to a comeback tie at Hawaii Pacific University on October 28 by scoring the game-tying goal in the 61st minute to forge a 2-2 double-overtime draw. Like the Chaminade contest, the Penguins trailed 2-0 but rallied to pick up a point in the standings.
Lauren Gollnick
Kolby Mitnick
Placer United Alumni Pick Up College Awards
Ryan Hollingshead, UCLA – Pac-12 Player of the Year
The Granite Bay native and former Placer United Player is the fifth UCLA player to earn Conference Player of the Year honors. Hollingshead joins fellow Bruins Matt Taylor (2003), Patrick Ianni (2004), Michael Stephens (2008) and last year’s winner Kelyn Rowe (2011) to win this award. Hollingshead was a second-team all-conference honoree in 2011 and earned honorable mention honors in 2010. The senior midfielder tallied 20 points this season with six goals and five assists. Hollingshead is second on the team in both goals and assists. He leads the Bruins to their 40th all-time NCAA tournament appearance earning the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye.
Seth Casiple, Cal Berkeley – Named to All Pac-12 2nd Team of the Year
Seth Casiple, Rocklin High School and Placer United alum, had another outstanding year for Cal and was named to the 2012 Pac-12 second team of the year. Seth adds this award to his Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award for 2011 and All Pac-12 2011 Honorable Mention as well as the Soccer America All-Freshman 2011 Team and College Soccer News All-Freshman Second 2011 Team.
Casey Bernard, CSUS – Named to Big West Conference Team of the Year
Casey Bernard was the rock of the Sacramento State defense. The former Placer United senior from Roseville started all 13 games he appeared in and played 1,183 minutes in the season.
Former Placer United Player, Lauren Gollnick, Named 2012 Pacific West Conference Women’s Soccer Freshman of the Year
November 11, 2012
SAN RAFAEL, CA — Lauren Gollnick, Dominican University, has been named the 2012 Pacific West Conference Women’s Soccer Freshman of the Year. In addition, Gollnick was named to the All-PacWest First Team as a forward. Senior forward Julianna Bratsberg and junior goalkeeper Megan Herringboth earned Second Team honors while sophomore midfielder Mckenna Kimball earned an honorable mention. The awards were announced live on air during Thursday’s PacWest Radio Show by Conference Sports Information Director Tom Di Camillo. Read More
Placer United’s Niko Hansen Comes Up Huge in High School Division 1 Final
The High School soccer final everybody has waited years to see, Jesuit versus Granite Bay, was just the platform Placer United dazzling senior midfielder, Niko Hansen, needed as he scored three of his team’s five goals to help Jesuit High School win its10th D-I section championship and third in four years. It was also Niko’s 2nd hat trick in two games as he led the team in scoring with 35 goals for the season.
Hansen, the Delta River League Player-of-the-Year has also verbally committed to New Mexico, who is currently ranked 13th in the Nation heading into the NCAA Division 1 Playoffs.
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Placer United Alumni Kick Off NCAA Division One Playoffs
The NCAA Division One Playoffs are ready to begin this week and we wish the following former Placer United players all the best as they strive to become NCAA Division One Champions:
- Austin Dunn, University of San Diego
- Joey Haug, U.S. Airforce Academy
- Ryan Hollingshead, University of California Los Angeles
- Gabe Padilla, Georgetown University.
- Grant Silvestre, University Of Virginia
Ryan Hollingshead Named to College Soccer News Team of the Week
Senior captain, Ryan Hollingshead, scored Bruins’ first goal on Friday to lead them to Pac-12 title
November 12, 2012
Los Angeles, CA – Senior captain Ryan Hollingshead has been named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for the week of November 5-11, as announced by the publication today.
The Granite Bay, California, native and former Placer United player helped UCLA win its fourth Pac-12 title in five years on Friday as the Bruins defeated San Diego State by a score of 2-1. Hollingshead scored UCLA’s first goal of the match when he headed in a cross from Evan Raynr for his sixth goal of the season. The senior midfielder now leads the Bruins with 20 points on the year and is second in the Pac-12 with eight assists, trailing Raynr by just one assist.
Eight Placer United Alumni in the Women’s NCAA Tournaments
The NCAA Women’s Division 1, 2 and 3 National Championships began this past weekend and Placer United has EIGHT alumni participating!
Division 1
Maria De La Cruz – Idaho State
Mikaela Arnstein – UCLA
Miranda Bailey – BYU
Division 2
Caitlin Jones – Sonoma State Univ
Morgan Garcia – Barry University
Division 3
Ashley Sweeting – Chapman Univeristy
Caitlin Clark – Emory Univeristy
Lexi Giusti – Lesley Univeristy
Congrats to our female alumni. We look forward to seeing them on the field at the 7th Annual Placer United Alumni Game on Friday, December 21st.
Lauren Stafford Commits to Montana State University
“I am happy to announce that I have verbally committed to Montana State University at Billings! Never in a million years did I believe I would be playing college soccer. I have visited the campus and can honestly say I am in love with not only the location, but the coaching staff, players, and academic programs they offer. I plan on either majoring in Biology or Health and Human Performances. I know the school will make me a better player and person throughout my next four years.
I am so blessed to have a family that supports me 100%, and has for the past 18 years of my life. Thank you Mom, Dad, and Jenna; you all mean the world to me and the sacrifice and time you’ve given to me the past 12 years I’ll be forever grateful.
As for my coaches, thank you first of all to Norm Chavez, who taught me not only the basics, but taught me how to love and appreciate the game of soccer. You are an incredible coach, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you to George Vallas and Ron Sanchez, whose love for the game made my time with them unforgettable. Thank you especially to Ron Benjamin. Your time and dedication to Placer United is so greatly appreciated. Your willingness to push me harder than I ever have, and your direct coaching style has truly improved me throughout this season. Montana would not have been possible if not for you, so thank you for making my dream of college soccer come true. Thank you to my AMAZING team whose skill continues to astonish me daily. You all are my sisters for life so thank you for making my last season of club soccer the absolute best.”
—Lauren Stafford