Rich Balchan

Rich Balchan
Personal information
Full name Richard Balchan
Date of birth (1989-01-18) January 18, 1989
Place of birth Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Atlantic City FC
Youth career
2007–2010 Indiana Hoosiers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008 Fort Wayne Fever 5 (2)
2009 FC Indiana
2009–2010 Chicago Fire Premier 17 (2)
2011–2012 Columbus Crew 20 (1)
2013–2015 Real Salt Lake 14 (0)
2015–2016 Tampa Bay Rowdies 15 (1)
2016 Ottawa Fury 3 (0)
2017 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 6 (0)
2018– Atlantic City FC 0 (0)
National team
2008 United States U20 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 30, 2017

Rich Balchan (born January 18, 1989) is an American soccer who currently plays for Atlantic City FC in the National Premier Soccer League.

College and amateur

Born in Carmel, Indiana, Balchan attended Carmel High School, and played club soccer for Carmel United Cosmos, before going on to play four years of college soccer at Indiana University. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team following his first season in 2007, was named to the Big Ten Championship all-tournament team as a sophomore in 2008, was named to the All-Big Ten second-team and the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region third-team as a junior in 2009, and was an All-Big Ten first team member, a Big Ten All-Tournament team pick and a member of the NSCAA All-Great Lakes region third-team following his senior year in 2010. He finished his college career with 4 goals and 7 assists in 80 games for the Hoosiers.

During his college years Balchan also played in the USL Premier Development League for Fort Wayne Fever[1] and Chicago Fire Premier,[2][3] and for half a season with FC Indiana in the National Premier Soccer League in 2009 (he transferred to Chicago halfway through the season). He was part of the Fire squad which reached the 2009 PDL championship game, but did not play in the final itself (which they lost 2–1 to Ventura County Fusion) after suffering an injury in the semi-final against the Cary Clarets.

Professional

On January 14, 2011, Balchan was drafted in the first round (12th overall) in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew.[4] He made his professional debut on February 22, 2011 in the first leg of the Crew's CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final series against Real Salt Lake,[5] and played his first league game with the Crew on March 19, 2011 in the season opener against D.C. United.[6]

Balchan challenging Dwayne De Rosario in a 2011 regular season match

Balchan scored his first professional goal at Red Bull Arena on June 4, 2011 during a regular season match against the New York Red Bulls. He received a cross from Justin Meram and hit a sliding one-timer to equalize the game with about 30 seconds before the final whistle.[7]

Balchan was released by Columbus following an injury-plagued 2012 season including 3 sports hernia surgeries after being pushed to play through a groin tear from July–November 2011. The operations kept him out most of 2012.[8]

After signing with Real Salt Lake in 2013, Balchan was released at the end of their 2014 season following an injury plagued 2 years including shoulder and sports hernia surgeries. He subsequently signed with NASL club Tampa Bay Rowdies in March 2015.[9] He was released in November 2015.[10]

Balchan was released by the Rowdies at the end of the 2015 NASL season, and signed with Canadian club Ottawa Fury FC in January 2016.[11] After rupturing all three tendons in his left hamstring against FC Edmonton, Balchan underwent season ending surgery. Balchan recovered in time to roster for the final match of the season, and on 13 December 2016, he was released by the club.[12] On March 1, 2017, he signed with Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL. On April 29, in just his sixth start of the season, Balchan ruptured his achilles requiring season ending surgery. His contract expired at the end of the season and was not renewed by the club.[13]

International

Balchan played with United States U-20 National Team in early 2008, and was later a part of a U-20 squad which played England against reserve squads from Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2010/22315.html#STATS Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Crew select Rich Balchan with 12th pick".
  5. ↑ "Crew, RSL finish scoreless in testy CCL opener". 22 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Davies double starts United season off with a bang Archived March 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Game recap from Columbus Dispatch, June 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Fire PDL product Balchan "blessed" with new Chicago opportunity". 20 January 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news/detail/uuid/137t2czg8dt4w116jhqwr14zvw/rowdies-add-depth-to-defense-with-signing-of-rich-balchan#.VQl-k9KsXzw
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  11. ↑ "Fury FC add USL Champion; Sign former MLS First Rounder". ottawafuryfc.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "FURY FC WOULD LIKE TO THANK NON-RETURNING PLAYERS". ottawafuryfc.com. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "HOUNDS ANNOUNCE INITIAL OFFSEASON ROSTER PLANS". Riverhounds.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.