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Rich Balchan

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Rich Balchan
Personal information
Full name Richard Balchan
Date of birth (1989-01-18) January 18, 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Defender
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
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 FC Academy 1 (0)
2016 Ottawa Fury 3 (0)
2017 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 6 (0)
2018–2019 Atlantic City FC 18 (0)
Total 80 (6)
International career
2008 United States U20 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of April 30, 2017

Rich Balchan (born January 18, 1989) is a retired American soccer player.

College and amateur

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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

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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 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] He played a match for their academy team in the third-tier Première Ligue de soccer du Québec.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

Balchan challenging Dwayne De Rosario in a 2011 regular season match

International

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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

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  1. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  2. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  3. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". www.uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012.
  4. ^ "Crew select Rich Balchan with 12th pick".
  5. ^ "Crew, RSL finish scoreless in testy CCL opener". February 22, 2011. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  6. ^ "Davies double starts United season off with a bang". Archived from the original on March 22, 2011.
  7. ^ "Game Recap from Columbus Dispatch". blog.dispatch.com. June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Fire PDL product Balchan "blessed" with new Chicago opportunity". Chicago Fire. January 20, 2013.
  9. ^ "Rowdies NASL: Rowdies Add Depth to Defense with Signing of Rich Balchan". Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  10. ^ "Rowdies Announce First Wave of Roster Moves | Tampa Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  11. ^ "Fury FC add USL Champion; Sign former MLS First Rounder". ottawafuryfc.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  12. ^ http://www.tsisports.ca/soccer/archiveLigue/l_statJ.aspx?pass=01028845[permanent dead link‍] [bare URL]
  13. ^ "FURY FC WOULD LIKE TO THANK NON-RETURNING PLAYERS". ottawafuryfc.com. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  14. ^ "HOUNDS ANNOUNCE INITIAL OFFSEASON ROSTER PLANS". Riverhounds.com. November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
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