Rachel Van Hollebeke

Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke (born August 26, 1985), née Rachel Marie Buehler, is a former American soccer defender who last played for the Portland Thorns FC and the United States women's national soccer team. In 2015, Van Hollebeke retired from playing professional soccer, and soon after began attending medical school at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Rachel Van Hollebeke

Rachel with the Gold Pride in September 2010
Personal information
Full name	Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke
Date of birth	(1985-08-26) August 26, 1985
Place of birth	Del Mar, California, United States
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position(s)	Defender
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2007	Stanford Cardinal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	San Diego WFC SeaLions
2009–2010	FC Gold Pride	39	(2)
2011	Boston Breakers	10	(1)
2012	Atlanta Beat
2013–2015	Portland Thorns FC	32	(0)
National team^‡
	United States U-19	30	(3)
	United States U-21	17
	United States U-23
2008–2015	United States	113	(5)
Honours Women's football Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Team 2012 London Team FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 Germany Team
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 23, 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 10, 2015

Early life

Stanford University

Van Hollebeke attended Stanford University, where she was named by the NCAA Honors Committee as a recipient of the NCAA Top VIII Award, and completed her senior year in 2007, majoring in human biology/pre-medicine. A three-year captain for the Cardinal, Van Hollebeke was an All-Pac-10 Conference First-Team selection, an NSCAA First-Team All-American Scholar Athlete, and was chosen as the ESPN Academic All-American of the Year.[1] As a redshirt junior in 2006, she was one of two players in the conference to be selected in the All-Pac-10 First Team and the Pac-10 All-Academic First Team.[1]

Playing career

Club

FC Gold Pride, 2009

On September 16, 2008, Van Hollebeke was one of three members of the 2008 Beijing gold medal team allocated to the brand new Santa Clara, California, club FC Gold Pride, along with Nicole Barnhart and Leslie Osborne. FC Gold Pride, coached by former San Jose Clash midfielder Albertin Montoya, was the seventh and final club named in 2008 to compete in the inaugural season of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) the following year.

Portland Thorns FC, 2013–2015

On January 11, 2013 Van Hollebeke was one of three members from the United States women's national team that was allocated to the new NWSL club Portland Thorns FC, along with Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath.[2]

On August 23, 2015, Defender Rachel Van Hollebeke announced her retirement from international and professional soccer at the conclusion of the 2015 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) season. Van Hollebeke retires after playing six professional seasons, including the last three with Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL. In three seasons with Thorns FC, Van Hollebeke appeared in 44 regular-season matches (38 starts), logging 3,429 minutes. Van Hollebeke helped guide Portland to the 2013 NWSL Championship, featuring in both postseason matches during the team's inaugural campaign. The 2013 Thorns FC Defender of the Year, Van Hollebeke earned NWSL Second XI honors, playing the full 90 minutes in 20 of the team's 22 regular-season games in 2013. Additionally, Van Hollebeke played an active role in community events through the club's Stand Together community platform and was named 2014 Community Player of the Year for all of her efforts.[3]

International

Van Hollebeke has played on several U.S. national youth teams, including U-16 and U-17, and was a member of the first place 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada and the third place team at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand. She joined the national team training camp in July 2006 and debuted for the full team in March 2008 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal. Van Hollebeke was named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic women's soccer team on June 23, 2008. She appeared in two matches, chipping in with one assist.[4] She was also chosen for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup squad and scored on the USA's opening game against North Korea. Van Hollebeke was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Van Hollebeke appeared in all six matches and played all but 35 minutes of the United States gold medal campaign.

On March 6, 2013 in the opening game of the Algarve Cup, Van Hollebeke became only the 29th female to play 100 times for the United States. Van Hollebeke's very first appearance with the national team was in 2008 at the very same tournament. During her 100th cap against Iceland, Van Hollebeke scored a goal, making her only the 4th U.S woman next to Tiffeny Milbrett, Shannon MacMillan, and Abby Wambach to score in their 100th appearance.

Career statistics

Club

Team	Season	League	Domestic league					Domestic playoffs					Total
			Apps	Starts	Minutes	Goals	Assists	Apps	Starts	Minutes	Goals	Assists	Apps	Starts	Minutes	Goals	Assists
FC Gold Pride	2009	WPS	19	11	1088	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	19	11	1088	1	1
Portland Thorns FC	2013	NWSL	20	20	1800	–	2	2	2	180	–	–	22	22	1980	–	2
	2014		12	9	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	12	9	–	–	1
	2015		13	10	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13	10	–	–	–
	total		45	39	–	–	3	2	2	180	–	–	47	41	–	–	3
Career total			64	50	–	1	4	2	2	180	–	–	66	52	–	1	4

International

Nation	Year	International appearances
		Apps	Starts	Minutes	Goals	Assists
United States	2008	23	8	1217	0	1
	2009	7	4	457	0	0
	2010	17	17	1474	1	1
	2011	19	18	1608	1	0
	2012	31	26	2433	1	4
	2013	4	4	360	1	0
Career total	6	102	77	7549	4	6

(*Correct as of March 6, 2013)

International goals

Rachel Van Hollebeke scored 5 goals in international competition; one each in World Cup final tournament, Olympic qualification, World Cup qualification, the Algarve Cup, and a friendly match.

	Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting)
Location	Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup	Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain Sorted by minutes played
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score	The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result	The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
	Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
	Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament
	Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match
	Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match
	Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

Goal	Date	Home away neutral	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	2010-10-28[m 1]	neutral	Cancun	Haiti	Start	8	Carli Lloyd	5150.01005 1–0	5550.05005 5–0	World Cup Qualifying:Group B
2	2011-06-28[m 2]	neutral	Dresden	North Korea	Start	76	Carli Lloyd	5250.02005 2–0	5250.02005 2–0	FIFA World Cup:Group C
3	2012-01-20[m 3]	neutral	Vancouver	Dominican Republic	Start	7	Abby Wambach	5350.03005 3–0	6450.64005 14–0	Olympic Qualifying:Group B
4	2013-03-06[m 4]	neutral	Albufeira	Iceland	Start; (c)	48	Lauren Cheney	5150.01005 1–0	5350.03005 3–0	Algarve Cup:Group B
5	2013-09-03[m 5]	home	Washington	Mexico	39. on 52' (off Rampone)	55	unassisted	5650.06005 6–0	5750.07005 7–0	Friendly

Personal life

Rachel married Bobby Van Hollebeke on November 17, 2012 at Balboa Park in San Diego. She announced that she would be using her husband's last name professionally from 2014 on.[5]

Van Hollebeke's tough playing style earned her the well-known nickname "The Buehldozer".

Van Hollebeke began medical school at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in August 2015 and retired from soccer after the 2015 NWSL season.[3]

See also

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps
• List of Olympic medalists in football
• All-time FC Gold Pride roster

References

1. "Biographies: Rachel Van Hollebeke". US Soccer. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
2. "NWSL announces allocation of 55 National Team Players to Eight Clubs". US Soccer. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2013.
3. "Van Hollebeke announces retirement from professional soccer". Thorns FC. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
4. "2008 US Women's Olympic Soccer Team". US Soccer. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
5. "Twitter / Rachel_BVH: Changed my handle to @Rachel_BVH ..." Rachel Van Hollebeke. January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.

Match reports

1. "U.S. Women Defeat Haiti 5–0 to Open CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying in Cancun, Mexico". U.S.Soccer. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
2. "U.S. Opens 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup with 2–0 Victory Against Korea DPR". U.S.Soccer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012.
3. "U.S. Women's National Team Opens 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Women's Qualifying With Record Performance in 14–0 Rout of Dominican Republic". U.S.Soccer. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014.
4. "Rachel Buehler Scores in Her 100th Career Cap as USA Defeats Iceland 3–0 to Open 2013 Algarve Cup in Portugal". U.S.Soccer. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014.
5. "Leroux Scores Four as USA Downs Mexico 7–0". U.S.Soccer. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014.

External links

• Rachel Van Hollebeke – FIFA competition record
• US Soccer player profile
• FC Gold Pride player profile
• Rachel Van Hollebeke on Twitter