Placer United SC taking big ECNL steps

Over the last 10 years, Placer United has had over 400 players commit to college programs, including 55 in 2021 and so far in 2022. And now, the Rocklin, Calif.-based club with a recent history of success, can say that its boys and girls sides of the club are in the Elite Clubs National League. <img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-44934" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/05/Logo_Placer-United-40-anniversary-final-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After the boys were fortunate enough to move up to ECNL following research of a five-year performance history, girls Director of Coaching Ron Benjamin went to work trying to get the girls into ECNL. The girls will be moving up from the NorCal Premier level, after spending three years in the girls Developmental Academy of the U.S. Soccer Federation, with the 2004 girls team reaching the DA final four in 2019. That club, with 15 girls going on to college play, is playing in the Champion’s League this spring. In fact, all of the teams from the 03s to the 08s qualified for the Champion’s League. All first-team girls sides reached the semifinals of the State Cup with the 05, 07 and 08 girls reaching the finals this past weekend. The 2003/2004 girls team, a very possession-oriented team, a team that plays through the thirds of the pitch, won their NPL region in the fall, reached the semifinal of the SurfCup last summer and were Surf College Cup champs in November. They are sending four players on to this point to play in college next year. [player_tooltip player_id="44940" first="Kate" last="Killer"], a central midfielder, is heading to UC Santa Barbara. [player_tooltip player_id="29297" first="Lucy" last="Newlin"], a defensive midfielder, is heading to the University of Washington while [player_tooltip player_id="29290" first="Angela" last="Shannon"], a forward, is heading to UC Davis, while fellow forward Jordyn Scott is heading to Cal Poly Pomona. The girls 2005 team is sending keeper [player_tooltip player_id="18883" first="Alyssa" last="Savig"] to Stanford, central midfielder [player_tooltip player_id="32901" first="Courtney" last="Wagner"] to San Luis Obispo and outside defender Devyn Costo is heading to Chico State. This team, which reached the finals at the Davis Legacy Showcase and finished third at the Surf College Cup, will assuredly have more players commit. The 06, 07 and 08 teams are all fairing well in the Champions League right now, sitting in third. [caption id="attachment_44936" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/05/2022_Boys-Goalkeeper-1-crop-2048x1345-1652357105.jpg"><img class="wp-image-44936 size-medium" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/05/2022_Boys-Goalkeeper-1-crop-2048x1345-1652357105-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <em>Photo: Brent Robken Photography</em>[/caption] Last summer, the 2003/2004 boys team won the Davis Legacy Showcase and competed well in the ECNL Showcase and at the SurfCup. They also just reached the finals of the State Cup. The will be sending midfielders Robbie Mora and [player_tooltip player_id="7806" first="Jake" last="Goehring"] to Gonzaga. Forward Alhasan Alsakati is heading to San Luis Obispo while Hector Serrano-Martin, an outside defender, is heading to St. Mary’s College and central defender [player_tooltip player_id="8057" first="Keith" last="Willey"] is going to Utah Valley. The 08 and 09 boys teams are playing well with a good chance of qualifying for the post-season while the 05 boys did wall at the ECNL Showcase in Arizona, winning two out of three. The 06 and 07 teams have competed hard all year, they fight in every match and have made significant improvements as both sides continue to mature a great deal.