Rachel Buehler
Position: Defender
Height: 5-5 (1.65 m)
Born: Aug. 26, 1985 in La Jolla, Calif.
College: Stanford University
U.S. National Team: Won Gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China ... Got her first call-up to National Team training camp in July 2006 ... Attended training camps throughout the winter and spring with the full Women's National Team and participated in the Residency Training Camp in 2007 ... Made her first WNT roster and debuted for the full team in March of 2008 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, starting and playing the full 90 minutes against China ... Earned her first eight caps in 2008 leading into the Peace Queen Cup, staring four games ...
Youth National Team: Played extensively with the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team (earning 17 U-21 caps), playing in the Nordic Cup in Sweden (2005), Norway (2006) and Finland (2007), while winning the title in 2005 and 2007 ... Was a starter for the USA in two FIFA youth world championships ... Played on the U.S. team that took third place in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup in Thailand and on the team that won the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup in Canada, but suffered a torn ACL right at the beginning of the championship game in Edmonton ... She had started five of six games in the tournament to that point, scoring a goal off a penalty kick against England ... Started all five games at the CONCACAF Qualifying tournament in Canada in 2004, playing every minute while scoring two goals with one assist ... Finished her U-19 international career with 30 U-19 caps ... In 2003, she did not play with U-19s as she was recovering from another ACL injury, this one to her other knee coming just two weeks after returning to the field after rehabbing her first torn ACL ... Played with the U-17 and U-16 National Teams. First Appearance: March 5, 2008, vs. China ... First Goal: None.
College / High School: Finished a decorated career at Stanford in the fall of 2007 and was named by the NCAA Honors Committee as a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award ... A three-year captain for the Cardinal, Buehler was an All-Pac-10 Conference First-Team selection ...She was a NSCAA First-Team All-American Scholar Athlete and was chosen as the ESPN Academic All-American of the Year ... As a red-shirt senior, she started all 23 of Stanford's games during one of the school's most successful years ever ... As a redshirt junior in 2006, she was All-Pac-10 First Team selection and named to the Pac-10 All-Academic First Team, one of two players in the conference to be named to both First Teams ... She was also an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American First Team selection ... Started all 23 games for the Cardinal, one of four Stanford players to start every game ... Led the defense to 15 shutouts and a .55 goals-against average ... As a redshirt sophomore in 2005, she started all 20 games for the Cardinal and earned Second Team All-Pac-10 accolades ... Named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second-Team ... Tallied two goals on the year, both game-winners during the Stanford Nike Invitational ... Her first collegiate goal came against Santa Clara ... Followed up with her second goal two days later against Colorado College ... As a sophomore in 2004, she redshirted the season, spending the fall with the U.S. Under-19 National Team ... As a freshman in 2003, she played in 15 games and made eight starts ... At Torrey Pines High School, she was twice named a Parade Magazine All-American (2002 and 2003) and named the Torrey Pines' Defender of the Year in 2000 and Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002 ... Captained her high school squad during her junior and senior seasons ... Named the 2001 and 2002 Palomar League Player of the Year ... Earned First Team All-CIF and All-Palomar League honors for three-straight years (2000-02).
Club: Competed for the San Diego Surf Soccer Club for seven years ... Named the club's 2003 Player of the Year ... Was an NSCAA U-16 and U-17 Youth All-American.
Personal: Full name is Rachel Marie Buehler ... Father, Donald, who is a heart surgeon, was a member of Stanford's water polo and wrestling teams ... Is the proud daughter of the ultimate soccer mom, Mary Ellen ... Graduated as a pre-med major with a degree in human biology and is currently studying for her medical school entrance exams ... Received a NCAA Post-Graduate scholarship ... Nicknames are Rach, Buehles, Bue or Ferris ... Has one sister, Anna, who plays soccer for the Surf ... Enjoys going to the beach, Stanford theatre, rocking out to oldies, taking pictures and hanging out with her family and friends ... Likes to snowboard ... Considers lady bugs her lucky charm ... While in college, she volunteered at local elementary schools, at a home for the elderly and with Special Olympics ... Is preparing to take the LSATs.