The Norcal Premier League Player Development Program has selected the boys and girls players for the NPL/PDP 98/99 North First Team. The players will train and play under the guidance of the PDP staff this spring. The following Placer United players have made the first team:

Boys

• Cameron Douglas
• Ryley Kraft
• Keegan Ness
• Omar Oseguera
• Alejandro Perez
• Jordan Vice
• Vitaly Zadoynov
• Esteban Zepeda

Girls

• Megan Kuo
• Nicolette Lewis

The following players are in the training pool and will be invited to the next NPL PDP tryout for possible inclusion on the first team.

• Samantha Craig
• Rachel Gensch
• Mackenzie George
• Sylvia Sloss

Congratulations to all selected players!

MARCH 21, 2015
Scott Sidway
MLSsoccer.com

The FC Dallas attack is tough enough to contain when 11 players are on the field.

But playing an entire half down a man after midfielder Zach Pfeffer earned a red card for putting an elbow into the face of Mauro Diaz proved too much for the Philadelphia Union to overcome, as FC Dallas grabbed a 2-0 win at PPL Park and improved to 3-0-0 on the season on Saturday.

“When a team goes down, you’re always looking to capitalize on that situation,” Dallas forward Tesho Akindele told MLSsoccer.com after the game.

Manager Oscar Pareja opened the match with the same 4-2-3-1 lineup that was responsible for three goals against Sporting Kansas City last week, but it failed to generate many opportunities in the first half when Dallas was outplayed by the Union.

GAME STATS: Dallas dominates possession following Pfeffer’s ejection

At halftime though, after Pfeffer’s red card, Pareja decided to bring Ryan Hollingshead off the bench in place of Michel – an adjustment that proved to be the turning point of the match.

“[We wanted] to avoid a possible red card, because he was in the yellow,” Pareja said of Michel, knowing another yellow in an already physical game would negate the Dallas advantage. “I knew he could handle it. He is a mature player.”

But the decision to substitute for Michel did more than prevent a potential ejection of an FC Dallas player. It also gave the Hoops a more aggressive attack with the more mobile Hollingshead, who now has a goal and assist in the last two games coming off the bench.

“We wanted to have another forward. I wanted to put somebody else up front and have another body in the box when we were working the flanks with Fabian [Castillo] or Tesho or Ryan,” Pareja said. “And I thought it worked very well.”

It only took four minutes into the second half for Dallas to reap the benefits of Pareja’s wizardry, when Akindele was able to block a clearance attempt by Fabinho and race down the flank to get in position to fire a low shot past goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi. Just 10 minutes later, Hollingshead brought his coach’s vision to life, finding space at the top of box and drilling one in nearly the same spot that Akindele placed his.

The attacking depth at FC Dallas is proving to be overwhelming for opposing teams, especially when players such as Hollingshead continue to make the most of their opportunities.

“That’s the mentality that we want to develop on the team,” Pareja said. “That everybody feels involved and everybody feels important whether they are starting or coming from the bench.”

And whether it is 11 on 10 or if the teams have even numbers, the ruthless mentality that the Dallas offense is showing makes the club feel that it can play with anyone.

“We’re finding goals everywhere on offense,” Akindele said. “So we’re pretty confident.”

Scott Sidway covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com.

The Placer United U18G 97 Gold won the NPL Winter League Championship this past weekend in Davis. The NPL U15-U18 Showcase hosted and marked the end of the winter league as teams were vying for the NPL winter title. The U18 girls entered the weekend with 7 wins and no losses. They faced off against Modesto Ajax and had a convincing 2-0 victory. That win claimed the championship for the team. With the championship already secured, the girls squared off against the Sonoma County Alliance who has been near the top of the table all season long. SCA scored first and the girls were down 1-0 at the half. The team quickly rebounded and scored three unanswered goals to make the score 3-1. In the final moments of the game, SCA was awarded a free kick from just outside the box and converted to make the score 3-2.  The referee blew the final whistle and the team finished the season with a perfect 9-0 record.

The Placer United U16G 99 Gold were in second place, tied with FC Elk Grove, entering the final weekend. The NPL Fall League Champions winner faced off against SCA in Saturday’s game. The girls had a majority of the possession and the scoring chances and came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory. On Sunday, the girls final game was versus Sacramento United. The team came out on fire and posted an impressive 3-0 victory to hold onto a second place finish in the league, tied with FC Elk Grove.

The Placer United U15G 00 Gold had a shot at winning the NPL Winter League but needed a slip up by Davis and had to have two wins. The girls were looking to sweep the NPL championships after winning the Champions League title in the fall. On Saturday, the girls faced Modesto Ajax. The possession and scoring chances were heavily in favor of Placer but saw themselves down 1-0 at halftime. Needing a win, the girls pressed in the second half and found the equalizer with 15 minutes to go. In a desperate attempt to win the game, the team had a flurry of chances but could not find the back of the net and settled for a 1-1 draw. To secure a second place finish, the girls needed to beat a much improved Sac United team. After a slow start, the girls found themselves up 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, the girls put together a solid performance and scored three more goals to post a 4-0 final and a second place finish.

The Placer United U18G 98 Gold finished the winter season with 3 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws. Three of their four losses in league were by one goal. The girls entered their Saturday game in the mix to finish in the top four. They faced off against American River Freedom in Saturday’s game. The game went back and forth for 90 minutes and the score was deadlocked at 1-1. In extra time, ARFC was able to find the winning goal as time expired. In Sunday’s game, the team faced the second place team, FC Elk Grove. Placer held onto a 1-0 lead until the final 5 minutes of the game when FC Elk grove equalized. The game ended with a 1-1 score line.

Congrats to all of the NPL girls teams as they once again showed their strength in the top league in Northern California!

Placer United players and parents packed up their cars and vans and traveled en mass to the Bay Area over the weekend for one of the the biggest events of the year, the Northern California Spring College Showcase. The tournament, which draws teams from all over California and other states, as well as plenty of college coaches, was played out in the warmest weather of the year so far.

While the coaches and parents applied plenty of sunscreen in 75+ degree weather, our boys and girls dazzled and sizzled on the field dressed appropriately in their sunshine yellow kits.

U16G 99 Black – Juventus Northern California Spring Showcase Champions

The nine Placer United boys and girls teams ranging in ages from U14 to U18 played 36 games and scored a total of 58 goals as they brought home plenty of silverware for the already crowded Tinker trophy room.

U16B 99 Gold – Juventus Northern California Spring Showcase Champions

Three Placer United teams were crowned champions of the event. A BIG congratulations to the U16 99 Boys Gold, the U16 99 Girls Black, and the U14 01 Girls Black.

U14G 01 Black – Juventus Northern California Spring Showcase Champions

We want to give a massive shout out to our U15 Boys 00 Black team. The boys had a great weekend and finished in second place in their division after an epic comeback performance and a goal-of-the-year from Graham Bart in their semi-final game which took the team to the final.

Well done to the U15 00 Boys and U17 Boys 98 Gold who finished in 3rd and 5th in their divisions, as well as all the other Placer United teams that competed in and around the Bay Area.

It was great to see the Yellow Submarine out in force and doing so well.

Go Placer!

Portland Thorns FC have announced their 2015 preseason roster which includes Placer United alumni Savannah Coiner. The team opened training for its third season in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Thorns FC will open the 2015 NWSL regular season with back-to-back home matches at Providence Park on April 11 against the Boston Breakers and April 18 against the Western New York Flash.

Upon finishing her fourth starting season in the ACC at Clemson University, Savannah was invited to the preseason training camp for the Portland Thorns which started March 9th. The Thorns have been in contact with Coiner since her last college game. The Thorns, based in Oregon, have the largest fan base and most support of any professional women’s soccer league. In a 2014 game against Houston, the crowd was a record-breaking 19,123 people. The fan support and involvement in Portland is unlike any other in professional women’s sports.

Coiner was also invited to try-out with the Seattle Reign, Boston Breakers, and West New York Flash.

The National Women’s Soccer League played its first season in 2013 after the Women’s Professional Soccer League disbanded in 2012. The season runs from April-August, and consists of 9 teams. If selected, Coiner will join names like Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, and Heather O’Reilly in the league.

2015 Thorns FC Preseason Roster

Goalkeepers (4): Nadine Angerer**, Brittany Anghel*, Michelle Betos, Emily Kruger*

Defenders (14): Steph Catley**, Savannah Coiner*, Sarah Jackson*, Kendall Johnson, Kaylyn Kyle**, Alyssa Kleiner*, Emily Menges, Courtney Nelson*, Courtney Niemiec, Devin Prendergast*, Meredith Speck*, Rachel Van Hollebeke**, Rhian Wilkinson**, Kat Williamson

Midfielders (14): Chelsea Archer*, Kate Bennett*, Taylor Comeau*, Sinead Farrelly, Chrisalyn Fonte*, Krystyna Freda*, Tobin Heath**, Natalia Ledezma*, Allie Long, Sarah Robbins, Mana Shim, Ayaki Shinada*, Allie Sima*, McCall Zerboni

Forwards (10): Genoveva (Ayo) Añonma+, Shakira Duncan*, Melissa Fernandez*, Kelsey Haycook*, Alex Morgan**, Zuri Prince*, Danielle Schulmann*, Christine Sinclair**, Jodie Taylor**, Hanna Terry

*Non-roster invitee
**Currently with national team
+will arrive later this season

Emily Hansen, Defender, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Placer United ’97 Gold Alumni, Emily Hansen, was on the receiving end of two awards after her freshman campaign at Cal Poly. She was named to the All-Freshman Team in the Big West Conference and also took home the Rookie-of-the-Year accolade at Cal Poly. In her first year in San Luis Obispo, the defender started all but one match, averaging just over 78 minutes each game. She also moved up into the attack to place five shots on target and assist on two goals.

Congrats on a great season Emily!

FIFTEEN Placer United players have been selected to play in the 98/99 PDP National Premier League “North Region Games” scheduled for Wednesday night at the Davis Soccer Complex.

These players were selected from all of the Norcal National Premier League clubs in Region 6.

Boys

• Cameron Douglas
• Ryley Kraft
• Keegan Ness
• Omar Oseguera
• Alejandro Perez
• Jordan Vice
• Vitaly Zadoynov

Girls

• Emily Curry
• Nicolette Lewis
• Samantha Craig
• Rachel Gensch
• Makenzie George
• Megan Kuo
• Maleah Milner
• Sylvia Sloss

Congratulations and good luck in the matches on Wednesday!

Placer United U18 Boys 97 Gold
Norcal Winter National Premier League Champions

A big congratulations to the Placer U18B 97 Gold team. The boys repeated their Norcal National Premier League winter league championship in the U19 Division on Saturday with a convincing 5-0 win over highly rankled Athletico Santa Rosa. The boys went  6-0-1, scoring 20 goals and only conceding two. Along with moving into the NPL Champions League Division, which is due to start in March, they also were accepted into Dallas Cup, the nation’s biggest and best soccer tournament.

Review the list of NPL boys impressive college commitments.

by Corban Anderson

Attending Barca game with the dad of the family where I am staying

I had always heard that soccer was an integral part of the European culture, but experiencing it firsthand has been an amazing experience. I have been training in Spain for about three weeks now and love it. The family I am staying with has been very welcoming and my mom here makes some killer Spanish meals. I like to think that I sound less like a gringo with each new day. One of my favorite cultural differences here is how people fill bars every night for the soccer games and discuss different styles of play and tactics concerning the match. Everyone here is wild about the game and it’s awesome how I can expand my “soccer IQ” by simply sitting down and watching a game at a bar.

Training field separate from the stadium

Training here is incredible. I am playing with a professional team in the Tercera Division called Aurrera de Vitoria. The speed of play is much faster than anything I’ve ever been exposed to before. As an eighteen year-old, it is difficult playing with a group of guys that are in their mid-late twenties, even thirties. They are faster, stronger, and more competitive than what I’m used to because they are fighting for playing time at the professional level. It is a great challenge for me to match their level of play. The first training was a little rough, but after eight training sessions I am started to play really well and rise to the occasion. Playing at this level has revealed a lot of areas where I can get better. The main difference between my play and that of the other players is without a doubt the physicality. I am focused to improve my speed and strength and am confident that this is the best environment for me before I enter training at the college level.

Training break at the futsal facility with a couple of players

Placer does a great job at developing young players into players who see the game differently and can see movements and available passes before the ball is received. That is a large part of what is enabling me to compete with this team in Spain. I am very thankful for the preparation from the Placer coaching staff and the great teammates that I have had while representing the yellow submarines for the past seven years.

Go Placer!

Asst. Coach Katie Schoepfer, Alivya Wimmer, Head Coach Nancy Feldman

Placer United Alumni (2014) and Boston University freshman, Alivya Wimmer, who started the final 16 games of the season at center back, received the Rookie-of-the-Year Award. She was a crucial part of one of the best defenses in the Patriot League this season and was the only underclassman on the starting defensive line, which was made up of seniors Kai Miller and Ariana Aston, and junior MacLellan. Wimmer, a three year starting center back on Placer United 95 Gold was thrust into the starting role at Boston University after a pre-season injury to their upper class man center back. Read More

Congratulations Alivya !  We are very proud of you!