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Sigonella’s Breonna Oliphant, right, tackles Hohenfels’ Jen Pietras during the Division III European soccer championship in Ramstein, Germany, on Saturday. Sigonella defeated Hohenfels 5-0.

Sigonella’s Breonna Oliphant, right, tackles Hohenfels’ Jen Pietras during the Division III European soccer championship in Ramstein, Germany, on Saturday. Sigonella defeated Hohenfels 5-0. (Raymond T. Conway / S&S)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Junior Whitney Lynch scored three goals as the Sigonella Lady Jaguars successfully defended their Division III girls soccer title by topping Hohenfels 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Sigonella gave up only one goal in the tournament.

“They played a beautiful game today,” Sigonella coach Shawn McCarthy said of his team. “Championships are won with defense. This defense allowed our offense to operate.”

And operate the Sigonella offense did — despite constant rain, wind and a soggy field.

Sigonella’s Jaimie Jennett scored the game’s first goal by blasting a shot that slipped through the hands of the Hohenfels keeper around the 18-minute mark.

“That was my tenth goal of the tournament and was my favorite,” Jennett said.

Ten minutes later Lynch scored after receiving a beautiful crossing pass from the left wing.

Annalisa Gasporra made it 3-0 when she scored from just in front of the net around the 55-minute mark.

Hohenfels nearly scored when a chip shot skipped between the the Sigonella keeper’s legs and bounced to a stop just before rolling into the net. A defender cleared the ball before Hohenfels could get to it.

Seconds later, Lynch scored her second goal, making it 4-0. She made it 5-0 in the 69th minute when she booted a curling shot into the back of the net.

“It feels great,” she said. “It’s my last year here and our team ended it well.”

Late in the game players were colliding and sliding around the soaked filed. One Sigonella player had to be carried off the field after a collision, and was carted off the field on a gurney after the game.

But the defense played through the problems to complete the shutout. “We stuck with it,” Sigonella center defender Shirae Gasporra said. “We held our pressure and won the game.”

Being able to defend the title is an “awesome feeling,” McCarthy said.

“I tell our kids, ‘Excellence isn’t achieved. It’s maintained,’” he said.

“Yes, we won it last year, but this was a culmination of three years of work.”

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