Bethany Balcer

Bethany Balcer (born March 7, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for OL Reign in the National Women's Soccer League.

Bethany Balcer
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-03-07) March 7, 1997
Place of birth Hudsonville, Michigan, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 OL Reign
Number 24
Youth career
Michigan Fire Juniors
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Spring Arbor Cougars 98 (129)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Grand Rapids FC 12 (19)
2018 Seattle Sounders Women
2019– OL Reign 24 (6)
National team
2019– United States U23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 21, 2019

Balcer played collegiate soccer at Spring Arbor University, where she was a two-time NAIA national champion, three-time NAIA National Player of the Year, four-time First-Team All-American, and the school's leading scorer.[1] After her collegiate career, she joined Reign FC on a supplemental contract in 2019.[2]

Early life

Balcer grew up in Hudsonville, Michigan and attended Unity Christian High School, where she played varsity soccer.[3] She is the fourth of five children.

Collegiate career

Balcer attended Spring Arbor University from 2015 to 2018, where she was a four-year starter on its varsity soccer team.[4] The Cougars advanced to the NAIA Final Four every year and won two national titles with Balcer on the team.

While in college, Balcer played as an amateur with senior teams over the summer. She led Grand Rapids FC to a United Women's Soccer championship in 2017 – scoring hat-tricks in five straight matches – and played with Seattle Sounders Women in the Women's Premier Soccer League the following year.[5]

Club career

Reign FC invited Balcer to its preseason training camp prior to the 2019 NWSL season.[1] Balcer subsequently earned a contract on the club's supplemental roster.[2] She is the first NAIA player to sign with an NWSL club[6] and only the third NWSL player who previously played collegiately in the United States and finished her collegiate career with a non-NCAA D-I institution.[7] Balcer made her NWSL debut coming on as an 86th minute substitute at Houston on April 14, 2019.[8] A week later, she made her first start in Reign's home-opener at Cheney Stadium. Curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the far corner of the goal, she scored her first–ever pro goal in the 21st minute against Orlando Pride in a 1–1 tie. It was also the first home goal scored in the Reign's first season in Tacoma.[9] She scored her second goal in her second home start, sixth appearance on May 27, 2019 in a 2–1 win against the champions North Carolina Courage. Her 13th minute header from the edge of the box crashed off the underside of the bar to give her side an early lead. Her third goal occurred in the next game in her third home start against Houston Dash. On a breakaway she picked up a deflected through ball from Darian Jenkins and slotted right-footed past the keeper for the first goal of the game in the 32nd minute, Houston tied in the 90th to split the points. At the end of the season, she was awarded the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award.

International career

Balcer is a United States youth international at the U23 level.

Balcer received her first call-up to the United States women's national soccer team in December 2019.[10]

Personal life

Balcer is a devout Christian.[3]

Honors

Individual

References
  1. "Balcer Joins Reign FC for Preseason Camp". Spring Arbor Cougars. March 7, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  2. "Reign FC Announce Signing of Forward Bethany Balcer". Reign FC. April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  3. "Balcer to Bring Attacking Skills to Lady Cougars in 2015". Spring Arbor Cougars. January 24, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  4. "Bethany Balcer". Spring Arbor Cougars. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  5. "Balcer seizing opportunity with Seattle Sounders Women". Spring Arbor Cougars. June 12, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  6. "Balcer signs professional contract with NWSL's Reign FC". Spring Arbor Cougars. April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  7. Henderson, Chris. "Pretty sure Francis Marion was still DI when Salem was there. Didn't even consider figuring in Canadian colleges (Robinson). Forgot all about Cordner and Pires". Twitter. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  8. Cristobal, Jacob (April 14, 2019). "Reign FC open season with a draw at Houston Dash". Sounder at Heart. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  9. VanDyke, Josh (April 22, 2019). "Bethany Balcer steps in for Olympian and scores first goal with Reign FC". Michigan Live. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  10. "ANDONOVSKI NAMES 24-PLAYER ROSTER FOR U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM DECEMBER IDENTIFICATION TRAINING CAMP IN FLORIDA". US Soccer. November 27, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
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