After the summer ODP Sub-Regional event and Regional Camp at Linfield College in Oregon, five Placer United players were selected for the 2015 US Youth Soccer ODP Thanksgiving Inter-Regionals. The top players from around the country will gather in Boca Raton, Florida on the 21st of November. There will be scouts in attendance from US Soccer and a number of college coaches. The following players will represent Region IV from Placer United:

• 98 – Maggie Bell
• 99 – Nicolette Lewis
• 00 – Abena Aidoo
• 00 – Emily Talmi
• 00 – Sydney Schultz (alt)

Congrats girls! Well deserved!

by Steven Wilson, Press Tribune Sports Editor

August, 2015—The host teams were celebrating left and right at Placer United’s Juniors Cup hosted at Del Oro High School Aug. 8-9 as nearly all of their teams brought home hardware.

Out of the eight age groups, ranging from U8-U11 for both boys and girls, Placer United won every bracket except the two U8 competitions. The U9 girls final even included both the Placer United Gold and Black teams — a matchup that the Gold squad won 3-2 in a back-and-forth final.

Among the star teams for Roseville’s closest competitive soccer teams were the U10 Boys Gold, who erupted for five goals in the second half after going into halftime of the final deadlocked in a 1-1 tie with Santa Rosa United Boca. Placer United’s team scored three times in the opening ten minutes of the second stanza and coasted to a 6-1 victory to claim the championship.

The team’s coach, Chris Hall, was complimentary of the progress his team made over the course of a weekend. Hall also noted that tournaments like the Juniors Cup can be the earliest exposures to competitive soccer for his team.

“Tournaments help with player development because (you play) a lot of games close together, so all of the players get a lot of playing time,” said Hall, who walked around and congratulated all of his players individually during the celebration.

In the time leading up to the tournament, which was sponsored by Adidas, Placer United worked to ensure a high quality of play by searching for opposing teams that push their players to improve and adapt.

“This tournament in particular is very competitive,” Hall proclaimed. “With just the top teams in the area, the level of competition is extremely high. “The players love it. All they want is to compete with the best teams.”

Placer United, as a club, must have been very pleased with how the weekend went, as their youth tournament drew teams from some of the best clubs in Sacramento, including Sac United, FC Elk Grove, and San Juan among others.

The stacked level of competitive provided for entertaining results.

“The players bond more when they have to work harder or play more games in a stressful tournament,” Hall explained. “In the long term you see the development of the team as a whole and of the individuals on the side of skills and tactics.”

These are exactly the results that Placer United was looking for before hosting a tournament strictly for their younger age groups, focusing on player development, but of course six first place trophies were a nice reward too.

Placer United U9 Boys Silver Division Champs Celebrate their victory!

On a recent weekend at Del Oro High School, cries and sighs could be heard throughout the town of Loomis from parents and grandparents of U8-U11 boys and girls soccer players during the 2nd Annual Placer Juniors Cup. The spectators enjoyed watching their favorite players as they kicked, headed, tackled and blocked every ball, as well saved and scored every shot.

The tournament attracted almost 60 teams from Chico, Livermore, Modesto, Sacramento, and Santa Rosa and was kicked off in cool temperatures. But the intensity and heat increased with every game as teams battled to make semi finals and finals.

By championship time on Sunday, the thermometer read 99 degrees, but nobody cared as all eyes were on the new generation of Messi’s and Lloyd’s who were way too busy battling in their own U8-U11 world cup finals.

When the final whistle blew at the end of each championship game, the joy, ecstasy and relief on lots of faces, young and old, was priceless. During the trophy presentation, one coach brought even more smiles to his players’ faces when he announced he was taking his team straight to the ice cream parlor and putting “extra big sprinkles on each ice cream cone”.

A big thank you to all the teams that attended the Placer United tournament. We hope to see you all next year. Huge congratulations to all the teams that made it through to the finals and bigger congratulations to the teams that took home the silverware.

Great job everyone Go Placer!

Photo Gallery of champs and finalists.

Placer United U9G 07 Gold
2015 Mustang Stampede Finalists

Placer United’s U9 Girls Gold reached the championship game last weekend at the Mustang Stampede in Danville. In the Premier Division, the girls played Alternativo Futbol in game one and came away with a 2-2 draw. In game two, the girls lost a heart breaker to Pleasanton Rage 1-0 in a hard fought battle. That was enough to reach the semi-finals where Placer met up with the #1 seed, Mustang Explosion. The girls pulled off a 1-0 win to put them into the finals. In the championship game, the girls were matched up against San Diego United Navy. The game went back and forth with both teams having multiple scoring chances but came up a bit short, losing 2-0.

We’re so proud of you girls! Great job!

Abbie Faingold was selected to join the 2015 U.S. Maccabi Women’s Open soccer team as a goalkeeper for the European Games which was held in Berlin, Germany from July 27–Aug 5, 2015.

Abbie received her goalkeeper training at Placer United from Gene DuChateau, Matt Scammacca and Matt Bernard. The aforementioned coaches provided Abbie with a solid foundation to prepare her to play at the collegiate level.

With exposure at several college showcases, Abbie received a scholarship to play at Portland State University where she is playing Division I women’s soccer in the Big Sky Conference. Abbie just concluded her freshmen year with the PSU Vikings under Head Coach, Laura Schott. Abbie continued to grow and advance in her goalkeeping under the training and guidance of Coach Chris Lewis, former standout PSU goalkeeper and Portland Thorns player.

This was a tremendous opportunity and experience for Abbie to represent her country at the international level and she is honored to have been selected.

Read the Full Story

Placer United U12B 04 Gold
2015 San Diego Surf Cup Champions

The Placer United U12B 04 Gold and U13B 03 Gold continued exactly where they left off from the Davis College Showcase two weeks ago as both teams finished in the top of their brackets and advanced to the knock out rounds at the 2015 soccerloco Surf Cup in San Diego this past weekend.

In the quarterfinal rounds Sunday afternoon, our U13 boys beat a fiery Crossfire Academy in a tense affair 1-0 with a big time goal from DJ Handen. The U12 boys were involved in an epic battle with the top ranked Beach FC. The boys were down 2-0 after 20 minutes and battled their way back to win 4-2 with two goals from Rami Zantout and a goal each from Luc Summers and Drew Krawiec to join the U13 boys in the semi finals.

Bright and early Monday morning, the U13 boys played a very big and strong Washington side and won by 2 goals to zero with a goal each from Jackson Borba and Donovan Sessoms to advance to the U13 championship game.

In the U12 boys semi final held an hour later, the boys beat a very touch Real So. Cal side in penalty kicks with Luc Bost coming up with a big time save and Drew Dennis scoring the decisive PK to send the boys through to the U12 championship game.

With two Placer United teams now in Surf Cup finals, the excitement on the faces of Placer United families was everywhere to be seen around the famous polo grounds.

In the U13 final, the Placer boys put up a huge performance as they fought back from 3 goals down to make the score 3-2 with goals from Donovan Sessoms and Evan Schoer to make for a great last five minutes, but the boys couldn’t find the tying goal and eventually lost out to the San Jose Earthquakes Academy 3-2.

Placer United U13B 03 Gold
2015 soccerloco Surf Cup Finalists

In the U12 final, our boys came out flying with Jared Bautista and Chase Tanon scoring two quick goals to send the fans of Placer United into ecstatic joy! The Seattle United team refused to lay down and scored a goal to bring the game back close, but before Seattle could gain any momentum, up stepped Rami Zantout to restore the two goal lead and end the half 3-1 to Placer United.

In the second half, Luc Summers scored a fourth goal and Jared scored again to finish out the game 5-2 to result in the Placer U12 Boys crowned the 2015 U12 Boys soccerloco Surf Cup Champions.

Congratulations on a great weekend by both boys teams!

Go Placer!

Watch The Awards Ceremony

Watch the Game! (courtesy of Vic Tanon)

Placer United U12B 04 Black 2015 Sacramento United Suntan Classic Champions

Placer United U12B 04 Black team was crowned champions at the Sacramento United Suntan Classic this weekend at Cherry Island. The boys were undefeated in bracket play scoring eight goals and conceding zero. In the semi-final and championship games the boys continued their mean defensive play again conceding zero goals while scoring four in the semi and two in the final to take home the trophy.

Congratulations boys on a great job. Go Placer!

Norcal Player Development Program has selected a team to represent northern California at a 4-day event in Oregon this week. Mackenzie George, of the Placer United U17G 99 Gold team, and her PDP teammates will train at Southern Oregon University. The team will travel up to Portland to compete against the Washington PDP State team and the ID2 National Selection team.

Congrats Mackenzie!

Frederick Dreier, Special for USA TODAY Sports, July 20, 2015 —

FC Dallas midfielder Ryan Hollingshead has spent this season proving his versatility on the field.

One of just two FC Dallas players to compete in all 20 games, Hollingshead, 24, has played five different positions, attacking the opponents as a winger and protecting his own goal on defense. Although he’s scored just two goals, Hollingshead’s play has helped Dallas to sit atop the Western Conference standings.

“It’s the options we have with Ryan that make him valuable,” said head coach Oscar Pareja. “It’s exciting to see him take this step up.”

For Hollingshead, the elevation of form could not have come soon enough. Since he entered the league in 2014, Hollingshead has been on an unending quest to recapture the physical form that earned him 2012 Pacific-12 Conference player of the year honors during his senior year at UCLA.

“I’m probably at 90 percent of where I want to be,” Hollingshead said. “I didn’t think it would take this long to get back.”

While FC Dallas drafted him in 2013, Hollingshead quit soccer to start a branch of his church — the Chicago-based Harvest Bible Chapel — alongside his older brother, Scott, in their hometown of Sacramento.

He spent more than a year away from the sport, working full-time for a residential real estate firm to pay his bills. During his free time, Hollingshead jogged for fun and played pickup basketball to stay fit, however he did not play any soccer.

Both Hollingshead brothers played soccer for UCLA. Scott eventually quit soccer to become a pastor with the Harvest Bible Chapel, and in 2011 he began making plans to start a church in Sacramento. During a conversation over Christmas break in 2012, Ryan told Scott he would help him with the project after graduation the following year.

Scott, 28, said he was hesitant to bring his little brother on board with the project.

“I tried to be careful with 1/8Ryan3/8 because I didn’t want to pull him away from soccer,” Scott Hollingshead said. “People said it would be career suicide for him.”

Scott Hollingshead said his hesitation increased the following year after Ryan enjoyed a dominant senior season at UCLA, scoring seven goals and recording eight assists. The breakout year caught the eye of MLS recruiters, including scouts from FC Dallas. But by mid-2013, Ryan had made his mind up to forego a professional career.

Ryan skipped the MLS combine and the draft to complete volunteer work in Haiti, but FC Dallas still chose him 20th in the second round. After visiting with the team that February, Ryan told Dallas officials the bad news.

“We had dreamed about the church, and in our plans it always included me,” Ryan said. “I knew what I was leaving behind.

Within a few weeks, Ryan had moved back to Sacramento, and alongside Scott, he held prayer meetings and solicited funds for the fledgling church. They held Sunday services in the cafeteria at Granite Bay High School, where both men had attended. While Scott received salary as the pastor, Ryan managed the church alongside his day job.

The church grew faster than both expected, growing from six original parishioners to more than 150 within six months. Today, the church has 300 regular parishioners. By early 2014 the Hollingshead brothers had secured operational funding to hire full-time staff.

With the church on strong financial footing, Ryan Hollingshead reached back out to FC Dallas, which gave him a tryout for the 2014 season.

After a two-month fitness crash course, Hollingshead earned a spot on the team, but soon found that the year away had eroded his soccer form. Hollingshead spent most of the 2014 season playing in the reserve league with varying success.

“Moves I could make in my sleep in college — I couldn’t do them,” Hollingshead said. “I felt so slow.”

Hollingshead’s progression has not been without setbacks. He was replaced midway through the team’s May 9 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Throughout the season, he’s battled with teammates Michael Barrios and Mauro Diaz for a starting spot.

Pareja said he never considered cutting Hollingshead, even when his form appeared shaky.

“To see the commitment Ryan had for God — that is very unique for me,” Pareja said. “For me, that value of personality is important.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Anna Gregg, a 2015 graduate of St. Francis, was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Spring All-America Second Team, as announced on the website. Gregg will play soccer on scholarship at Colorado College this fall.

Gregg led St. Francis to Sac-Joaquin Section final on May 17. She scored a Delta League best 32 goals on the season in 2015 with a league-best 72 points. She also recorded eight assists, the second-best total in the league. The Folsom product recorded three or more goals four times season and recorded 12 multi-goal games during season.

Gregg, along with water polo’s Lauren Charter, received the St. Francis Booster Club Scholar-Athlete Awards and was named the River Cats Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Gregg was named to the West All-Region and California All-State teams announced by TopDrawerSoccer.com.