Steve Palacios

Steve Cisneros Palacios was born on May 20, 1993, in San Clemente, California, the second of three sons to Alfredo and Paula Palacios.[2] All three boys played soccer, and Steve trained with his older brother's teams while he was growing up.[3] He attended San Clemente High School and played four years of varsity soccer for the Tritons. Palacios ended his high school career sitting second all-time in both goals and assists at San Clemente, and as a senior in 2011, helped the Tritons to their first-ever CIF Southern Section title.[4][5] Following that title, he was named as the All-Orange County Player of the Year by the Orange County Register and earned a First Team All-CIF Southern Section nod.[6][7]

Palacios played his youth soccer with United FC, a youth development club in San Juan Capistrano, California. He earned selections to the California Olympic Development Program (ODP) and playied alongside Zinedine Zidane at the Adidas ESP camp.[3][8] He represented California South at the 2010 United States Youth Soccer Association ODP Championships.[9] Palacios also spent time with Chivas USA, playing for their academy at the 2010 SUM U-17 Cup.[10] Ranked as the number 76 recruit nationally by College Soccer News, he committed to play college soccer at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, part of a recruiting class that also included Matt LaGrassa, Chase Minter, and Keegan Smith.[11][12][13]

While in high school, Palacios earned multiple call-ups to camps for the United States men's national under-18 soccer team. He made his first camp appearance in October 2009, earning the call in part due to his performance at the Adidas ESP camp.[3][14] Palacios also appeared at a camp in February 2011 that included friendly matches against three Major League Soccer teams.[15] Additionally, prior to enrolling at Cal Poly, Palacios went on trial in the Netherlands with SC Heerenveen.[2]

After being an unused substitute in the first seven games of his freshman season, Palacios made his Cal Poly Mustangs' debut on September 25, 2011, coming off the bench in a 3–1 defeat against the Denver Pioneers.[16] He earned his first collegiate start three days later, playing 48 minutes as the Mustangs upset the no. 7 UC Irvine Anteaters by a 1–0 scoreline.[17] Although he played in just 10 games as a freshman, Palacios carved out a reliable role as a sophomore and appeared 18 times. He was one of the primary corner kick takers for Cal Poly, helping the team qualify for the Big West Conference Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time in two years.[2][18]

As a junior, Palacios appeared in a career-high 20 games for the Mustangs and tallied the first two assists of his collegiate career. The first of those came on September 5, 2013, in a 3–0 victory over the sixth-ranked UCLA Bruins, the highest-ranked team that Cal Poly had ever beaten. He assisted Chase Minter for the first goal of the game in the 11th minute.[19] Palacios followed that up as a senior with his first career goals, scoring twice in 18 appearances. He was the only senior on the Mustangs roster, although 10 other lettermen returned as well.[20] His two goals came in back-to-back games, helping the Mustangs defeat the NC State Wolfpack on August 31, 2014, and the Northern Illinois Huskies on September 5.[21][22] Palacios ended his college career having tallied two goals and two assists in 66 appearances across four years at Cal Poly.[2]

Following his time at Cal Poly, Palacios was eligible to be selected in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft but went undrafted.[32] He signed with United Soccer League (USL) club LA Galaxy II as a practice player and spent the 2015 season in that role.[33] Although Palacios was given the number 51 shirt by the team, he was not eligible to make league appearances and played his only game for the club in a postseason friendly against Sacramento Republic on November 14.[34][35]

After ending his professional soccer career, Palacios enlisted in the United States Army as a specialist in 2017.[1] While assigned to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, he was chosen to represent the Army team at the 2019 Armed Forces Men's Soccer Championship.[39] In the championship match against the United States Air Force team, Palacios scored the winning goal in second half stoppage time, giving Army a 2–1 victory and their first tournament title since 2015.[40] At the conclusion of the tournament, he was selected to the United States Armed Forces team to compete at the 2019 Military World Games.[1] Palacios and the United States were eliminated in the group stage at the games, losing all three matches.[41] During his time in the Army, Palacios also served at Fort Drum in Le Ray, New York, before his enlistment ended and he transitioned to service in the California Army National Guard.[42]

While still an active soccer player, Palacios began coaching. He ran youth soccer camps while at Cal Poly, and during his time with LA Galaxy II, he was on the staff of the San Clemente Surf youth club.[42][43] In 2022, Palacios served as an assistant coach for the boys' team at San Clemente High School, his alma mater.[44]

Palacios is the second of three children in his family, alongside brothers Kevin and Oscar.[2] He graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor of Science in recreation, parks, and tourism administration, then earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2020.[2][42] Palacios is married to Blake Zerboni, the twin sister of professional soccer player McCall Zerboni.[45] Blake is also from San Clemente and played college soccer at UCLA.[46]

Ventura County Fusion

• PDL Western Conference – Southwest Division: 2014[30]

United States military

• Armed Forces Sports Men's Soccer Championship: 2019[1]

• All-time Portland Timbers 2 roster
• List of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo people

• Cal Poly profile
• Steve Palacios at FBref.com
• Steve Palacios at Soccerway
• Steve Palacios at WorldFootball.net