A couple of weeks ago, six Placer United girls participated in the Western Placer County Area Cross-Country Finals. The race included fourteen middle schools who sent their quickest seven runners to compete in the 8th Grade Championship; a total of roughly 100 participants.

The venue was William Jessup University where the runners had to deal with a hilly 1.5 mile course. Pictured Left to Right are; – Faith Holloway (U14G Premier), Claire Norris (U14G Premier), Maggie Bell (U14G Elite), Sydney Ladrech (U14G Premier), Megan Kuo (U13G Elite) and Sierra Gosting (U14G Premier).

Maggie Bell was the race winner, with Sierra Gosting finishing in 2nd. However, all Placer United girls finished in the TOP 10 which is a remarkable effort!

Well done girls!

Coach Kevin Unsworth

To the Families of Placer United Soccer Club:

This is an exciting time for soccer in South Placer County! The two largest competitive clubs in the area are joining forces to form a new Club that will work from top to bottom to be the most successful soccer training and development program unmatched in Northern California.

While each entity has found a place in the soccer landscape and has done very well individually, neither are the best they can be. Combining these organizations into one Club is an opportunity to form a larger, stronger organization that blends the best practices and training philosophies under the leadership of one of the most credentialed soccer professionals in the United States.

Thompson is a former Olympian and a former U.S. National Team member. He played in the qualifying rounds of the 1986 World Cup and enjoyed a seven-year professional playing career. has developed a proven youth training program and has trained foot skills to thousands of kids over the past 25 years. Two years ago, founded a highly successful new Club, the Blues, that enjoyed overnight success.

Placer United, under the leadership of Ron Benjamin and Paul O’Brien, is celebrating a distinguished milestone of thirty years of soccer legacy and is nationally recognized as one of the premier youth soccer clubs in the country for competitive level players. In addition, Placer United is a partner in the Sacramento region’s California Development Academy, an elite player development program awarded by U.S. Soccer.

Each organization brings something substantial to the merger. Working together creates a soccer synergy unparalleled in the region to serve the competitive level players in our community. Creating this collaboration was undertaken after a great deal of consideration to how we ended up as separate clubs. We are committed in our focus and to creating a fun and exciting environment where the players compete with the best teams in Northern California, have fun playing the game, and achieve their soccer dreams.

At the following link, you will find responses to what we believe are the most frequently pondered or asked questions: Download Q&A. We have worked hard to put forth straight-forward, truthful answers. We are excited to move forward and expect to provide a positive, competitive soccer experience.

Please bring your soccer player and join us at a town hall-style meeting where you will have the opportunity to ask additional questions.

Sunday, October 23rd
George Cirby Elementary School
814 Darling Way, Roseville, CA

5:00 PM to 5:45 PM   U8, U9, U10
6:15 PM to 7:00 PM   U11, U12, U13
7:30 PM to 8:15 PM   U14, U15, U16, U17, U18

Paul O’Brien
Ron Benjamin
Thompson

Erika Garcia, former Placer United Elite ’93, has been officially invited to attend the U20 Mexican National Team Camp from September 30-October 9 in Mexico City’s Tlapan Sport Villas. The players will go through double day training from October 1-8 as they prepare for a match against Colombia on October 9th.

Garcia, a freshman forward at Harvard Univeristy has fourteen shots and two goals so far this season. She has scored goals in games versus Hofstra and New Hampshire. The Crimson are currently at five wins and four losses and 1-0 in the Ivy League Conference.

We are so proud of you Erika!

Here we go! Let’s get ready to welcome some international opposition to Del Oro High School Stadium.

Yes! It’s the season opener for both California Development Academy teams as they prepare to take on the mighty Canadians, Vancuover Whitecaps.

“The Caps,” who opened their first season in the USSF Academy last weekend, had an all MLS clash against Real Salt Lake and came away with an impressive 5-1 win in the U18 age group, and an unlucky 2-1 loss in the U16 age group.

CDA is entering their 3rd season in the USSF Academy. They hope to continue building on their impressive first two seasons which has seen them make playoffs twice in a row in the U18 age and once in the U16’s. In addition, CDA boasts an impressive 30 graduating seniors into collegiate soccer programs such as Princeton, Cal Berkley, Virginia, San Diego State, Vermont, Seattle, UC Davis, University of San Diego, and Cal Poly.

CDA has also had numberous players invited to U18 National Team camps, including being the only Academy program last year to have four players in the U18 national pool at one time.

Connor Hallisey became the first CDA player to be capped by USA when he competed against Germany, Israel and France in Isreal.

Seth Casiple and Grant Silvester were again named to the Western Conference starting 11 for the 2010/2011 season.

So come on out and cheer on some local boys this Saturday, September 24th.

Game Times

U18’s @ 12:00 p.m.

U16’s @ 2.30 p.m.

The summer tournament season brought a ton of excitement to the players and families of the Placer United Soccer Club. Now that fall is here, we are all very excited for the playing league season.

For the months of September and October, Placer United has once again integrated Functional Training into the curriculum. Functional Training is training players in their positions and helping them better understand the technical, tactical, physical and psychological functions/demands of their specific position.

We have five different training groups that meet once a week to work on the specifics of their positions. Additionally, we have arranged for our staff to work in coaching groups and work on all of the functions with the players. This is an excellent program and also gives the players the opportunity to work with other coaches in the club and hear a different voice. The players also get to work with other players from different teams within the soccer club.

Placer United offers the best training environment for our players. Clubstrong!

After a long tryout process, the 99/00 PDP team has been formed for the 2011 Season. Placer United boasts six female and five male players on the PDP boys and girls teams for this season. In September and October, the PDP team will have a number of training sessions and also take part in a PDP playdate in late October.

Below are the names of the players who made the team:

Boys

Cameron Douglas

Adrian Hoyos

Alejandro Perez

Cody Sunquist

Jordan Vice

Girls

Rachel Gensch

Nicollette Lewis

Abigail Michaelsen

Clare Murphy

Isabella Perez

Makenna Yarnell-Williams

Congratulations to all players who were involved in the PDP training pool and to the players who made the final selection. We are very proud of all of you!

The U10B Premier team spent the weekend competing at the Fall Kickoff Tournament in the beautiful setting of Tiburon, California.

The first game versus Palo Alto didn’t start as planned and we lost a goal within two minutes of the start. It turned out to be only a minor set-back as the boys responded with three quick goals from Elvis Aviles, Marcus Tovar and Caiden Macktinger; and eventually won the game convincingly 6-1. In the second game, four first half goals were enough to see off Mustang. They did get one back late in the game but the result was never in danger. Placer won 4-1.

On Sunday in an early game versus East Bay Eclipse, the boys knew a win would put them through to the final and they didn’t disappoint. Good work by Crew Nottingham and Kyle Wesolowski ensured a solid defensive display and three goals either side of halftime were enough to produce a comfortable 6-1 win with Hunter Romine getting a goal and Christopher Cutright scoring a cracker from distance to complete the rout. 

In the final, Placer faced Briceno SC Gladiators who had been equally impressive in their bracket play. Placer had a lot of the ball in the first half but were undone by a magnificent shot from outside the area to give Gladiators the lead 1-0 at halftime. Into the second half and an early second goal; again, a fantastic shot from well outside the area left Placer 2-0 behind and an uphill struggle. Placer got a goal back with 10 minutes remaining through Dylan Wilson who bundled the ball home after a goalkeeping error which set up a tense finale. Placer applied lots of pressure but had to be careful of any counter attack. With seconds remaining Kyle Schell’s quick thinking throw-in allowed Alex Schott to drive into the area and score from a tight angle to tie the game 2-2, and crazy scenes of jubilation ensued courtesy of parents, players and coach alike. On to two, five minute halves of overtime.

With nine minutes of stalemate and both teams cancelling each other out, in the final minute of overtime the referee awarded Placer a penalty. Delaying tactics from the Briceno coach in entering the field and trying to change his goalkeeper before the PK took its toll as the keeper saved the penalty and after kicking it upfield, the Briceno forward raced away with seconds remaining to smash the ball in and gave Gladiators a devasting 3-2 win.

The defeat was harsh on Placer. The boys were distraught at the end but they should all be very proud of their efforts and fighting spirit to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the final. In addition, they played some very good soccer and dominated bracket play. The game we love so much frequently has a habit of being so cruel…

Well done boys!

Kevin Unsworth
Coach

The Placer United U11 Girls Premier team had a great run at this year’s Davis Legacy Tournament. They won two games (1-0 and 2-1) tied one (2-2) and lost their only game of the weekend in the Championship Game against El Dorado (0-2) receiving 2nd Place!

Congratulations to the team for a great effort!

Seven Placer United teams travelled down to Danville last weekend to compete in the Mustang Stampede sponsored by Mustang Soccer Club. The tournament was filled with some of the best teams in Cal-N, Cal-S, Colorado and Washington.

Four of Placer teams made it through very difficult group play games and advanced.

The U11 Elite defeated Santa Clara Sporting 4-0, Mustang Blast 4-0 and tied Santa Rosa Riptide 1-1. They advanced to the quarter-finals and were up-ended by eventual finalist FSC 1-2.

The U13 Elite defeated Ajax 3-1, drew 0-0 with Arsenal (CA-S) and defeated SCA 1-0. The girls lost in the quarter-finals, 0-2 versus eventual champion, Pleasanton Rage.

The U15 Premier also adavanced through group play with a 1-0 win versus ACC Mavericks (finalist), a 1-0 loss versus VUSA Timbers and a 1-1 draw with Mustang Freedom. In the quarter-finals, they played through regulation and overtime to end in a 0-0 tie. The girls lost in penalty kicks.

The U15 Elite girls drew with Carlsbad Lightning 0-0, drew with Mustang Mavericks 1-1 and defeated Tynecastle (WA) 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals. In the quarters, the girls defeated FC Elk Grove 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals. In the semis, the girls were pitted against Bay Oaks Botafogo. There was no score in regulation and overtime and the girls fell in penalty kicks.

The U10 Elite, U12 Elite and U14 Elite had very difficult first round games and did not advance. They played Westminster, VUSA Timbers, Davis, Mustang, NW Nationals,and Eastside FC.

Congratulations to all teams! We will continue to challenege the players and compete in the best possible environment!

Placer United girls U9-U14 Elite and Premier teams were in action this past weekend at the Pleasanton Rage Juniors Showcase. Highlighting the weekend were the U11 Elite and U12 Elite. The U11 Elite, coached by Joe Black made it all the way to the finals. They beat Livermore 2-0, Castro Valley 5-0 and then tied 0-0 with Central Valley Magic to decide who went through to the finals. The Magic edged Placer Elite by one in goal differential. In the 3rd place match, the girls defeated San Juan Blue 4-2. The U12 Elite, coached by Matt Scammacca, reached the championship game by defeating Diablo FC 2-0, North Bay Elite 2-0 and then were upended in the championship 0-1 to DeAnza Force.

The U17 and U18 Elite girls teams travelled down to San Diego to compete in the prestigous Surf Cup. Over 350 college coaches were at the event scouting for their collegiate teams.

The U17 girls lost 0-2 to Real So Cal and 0-3 to Legends Breakaway, two of the top teams in Southern California. The girls rebounded with a 0-0 draw with the Central Valley Chillipeppers, a Northern California rival. 

The U18 girls lost 0-2 to Real So Cal in the opener. They then drew 0-0 with Legends FC. The team ended the event with a 1-1 draw with Fort Worth FC out of Texas missing out on the quarter-finals.