 Rachel with the Gold Pride in September 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Rachel Marie Buehler[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | August 26, 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Del Mar, California, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | 44 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States U-19 | 30 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States U-21 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States U-23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2015 | United States | 113 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of July 23, 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 10, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke (/ˈhɒləbɛk/ HOL-ə-bek;[2] née Buehler; born August 26, 1985) is an American former soccer player who last played as a defender 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.
In 2020, Van Hollebeke joined the ownership group of Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League.[3]
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.[4] 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.[4]
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.
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.[5]
On August 23, 2015, Van Hollebeke announced her retirement from international and professional soccer at the conclusion of the 2015 National Women's Soccer League season. During her three seasons with Portland Thorns FC, she won the 2013 NWSL Championship, 2013 Portland Thorns FC Defender of the Year, and 2013 NWSL Second XI honors. 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.[6]
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.[7] 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.
| 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 | ||
| 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[update])
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 |
| 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 parentheses; 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 |
1–0 |
5–0 |
World Cup Qualifying:Group B |
2
|
2011-06-28[m 2] | neutral | Dresden | North Korea | Start | 76 | Carli Lloyd |
2–0 |
2–0 |
FIFA World Cup:Group C |
3
|
2012-01-20[m 3] | neutral | Vancouver | Dominican Republic | Start | 7 | Abby Wambach |
3–0 |
14–0 |
Olympic Qualifying:Group B |
4
|
2013-03-06[m 4] | neutral | Albufeira | Iceland | Start; (c) | 48 | Lauren Cheney |
1–0 |
3–0 |
Algarve Cup:Group B |
5
|
2013-09-03[m 5] | home | Washington | Mexico | 55 | unassisted |
6–0 |
7–0 |
Friendly |
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.[8]
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.[6] She graduated in 2019.[9]
