Baden and Bitburg took the top seeds for Thursday morning’ssemifinals of the USAFE hockey championships in Garmsich, Germany, on Wednesday. Both teams were unbeaten in two days of pool play.

Their opponents at 8:30 and 10 a.m., respectively, will be Kasierslautern Military Community and Aviano, with the winners clashing at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the championship game.

In Wednesday’s pool-play finales, Bitburg (2-0-1) routed SHAPE (0-3-0) 7-2, Baden (2-0-1) blanked Aviano (2-1-0) 5-0, and KMC (2-1-0) edged defending champ Geilenkirchen (1-1-1) 2-1.

Tournament points leader Andy Ewart will lead Aviano into its semifinal clash against Bitburg at 10 a.m. In three games, Ewart has notched four goals and eight assists. Three of his Aviano teammates, Mark Boucher, Matt Doyle and Bill Kemper, have each scored three times, with Boucher adding four assists to his goals.

KMC’s Eric Schoenhaus registered four goals and four assists in pool play.

Olympic Development soccer tournament this weekendThe best American youth soccer players in Germany will gather Saturday and Sunday at the Benjamin Franklin Village Sports Arena in Mannheim, Germany, for an indoor tournament sponsored by the Olympic Development Program-Europe.

Competition for teams of both sexes ranging in age from under-13 to under-19 is scheduled. Play begins at 8:30 a.m. both days, and there is no admission charge.

According to tournament director Mark Churchwell, this event — the fourth annual Michael Bredel Memorial Tournament — is the one chance all ODP teams in Europe have to meet in one place to play one another.

The tourney is named for Brendel, a Heidelberg-Mannheim ODP coach, organizer and mentor from 1996-2002, Churchwell said.

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