Rachel Grace Bloznalis (born May 25, 1995) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who have played for

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

in the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

Early life

New England Football Club

Bloznalis played youth soccer for New England Football Club from U10 until U18.

Boston University

Bloznalis joined the

Boston University Terriers The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot is Rhett the ...

as a freshman in 2013. In her freshman year, Bloznalis played in 18 games as part of a defense responsible for shutting out 16 opponents. As a sophomore she started in two games before suffering a season-ending injury. As a junior she started in 19 games and finished with two goals and four assists and was named to the 2015 All-Patriot League First Team. In her senior year as captain she started all 21 games, finished the season with 3 goals and was named Patriot League Defender of the Year and

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-Region First Team. In November of her senior season the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

granted her a fifth year of eligibility for the 2018 season as Bloznalis pursued her Master's degree in Public Health. In her graduate season as captain Bloznalis was once again named Patriot League Defender of the Year, All-Patriot League First Team as well as United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team. She was also named to the MAC

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

Watch List. In 2018, Bloznalis was selected as the Boston University Woman of the Year, which honors the female student-athlete who best exemplifies a commitment to service, leadership, athletics and academics during her collegiate career.

Professional career

Bloznalis signed for

Elitettan Elitettan ( en, The Elite First) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are ...

side

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football clubs in ...

in February 2018. Bloznalis started in 51 of 52 matches during her two seasons in Umeå leading the team with minutes played. In her second year with

, Bloznalis led the side to a first place finish in the 2019

standings and subsequent promotion to

. In November 2019, Bloznalis signed with Swedish

team

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

. In September 2020, Bloznalis signed a two year extension with Swedish

team

. In July 2021, she left Djurgården after damages of a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

earlier in the 2021 season.

International career

In August 2018, Bloznalis was selected to the US U23 Women's National Team. During this stint Bloznalis helped lead the team to a first place finish in the 2018 Nordic Tournament.

Honours

Umeå IK *Elitettan champions (2019) Individual *Patriot League Defender of the Year (2016, 2017) *All-Patriot League First Team (2015, 2016, 2017) *Academic All-Patriot League (2016, 2017) *Senior CLASS Award Candidate (2016, 2017) *MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List (2017) *United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American (2016,2017) *United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team (2017) *United Soccer Coaches First Team Scholar All-East Region (2017) *All-ECAC First Team (2017) *New England Soccer Journal Defender of the Year (2017) *NSCAA All-Region First Team (2016) *Patriot League Academic Honor Roll (2014, 2015, 2016) *Patriot League Preseason Defender of the Year (2016, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloznalis, Rachel 1995 births Living people People from Upton, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts Soccer players from Massachusetts American women's soccer players Boston University Terriers women's soccer players Umeå IK players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American sportspeople of Haitian descent Women's association football defenders