Sigonella’s Tim Garcia watches his penalty kick sail towards the goal for the Cougars in the Division III boys final against Ansbach, at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023. Sigonella won 4-1. Watching are Christopher Mathias Hedemand, left, and Benjamin Schuck. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Midway through the second half of DODEA-Europe Division III title game, Sigonella needed a jolt.

Ansbach had put the Jaguars on their back haunches since the restart in a tied match.

In a singular play, Sigonella got that spark, and it came from a familiar source. Senior captain Tim Garcia scored against the run of play in the 67th minute, giving the Jaguars the lead for good at Ramstein High School on Thursday as they went on to win 4-1.

“I feel like it’s my job, especially as a captain of my team, to provide for my team not only with goals but also with assists,” said Garcia, the Division III boys tournament MVP. “I think I did a good job of that.”

It truly was a man-of-the-match performance from the forward.

Garcia had a foot in all four Jaguar goals. He assisted both of Mikolaj Czernielewski’s goals in the 23rd and 75th minutes and scored Sigonella’s two goals in the 66th and 69th minutes.

The two goals proved to be the most crucial for Sigonella (9-3-1). On the first goal, Garcia streaked past the Ansbach back line to get on the end of a long through ball from teammate Santiago Rodriguez-Albarca, caught Ansbach goalkeeper Elijah Antonetty in no man’s land between staying on his line and going after the pass and slid the ball home.

Then, a minute later, the Jaguars got a penalty, and after a short discussion and injury break, Garcia slotted the ball into the right upper 90 to make it 3-1.

“The team rallied around Tim, and he’s done that during the season, pulled us out of games that were a dogfight,” Sigonella coach Andrew Caro said. “That goal basically got us back on track, and we started to put it together, the passes started to gel and it just was fantastic. The last 20 minutes of the game, they really controlled it.”

Ansbach’s Daeveon Browne takes a header against Sigonella’s Sebastain Hedemand in the Division III boys final at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023.Browne scored the Cougars lone goal in their 4-1 loss to the Jaguars. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella keeper Ryan Griffith beats Ansbach’s Damien Abitua to the ball in the Division III boys final at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023. Sigonella won 4-1. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Ansbach’s Benjamin Schuck sends a cross against Sigonella’s Alessandro Montero in the Division III boys final at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023. Sigonella won 4-1. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Ansbach’s Nolan Bokor, right, clears the ball in front of Sigonella’s Mikolaj Czernielewski in the Division III boys final at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023. Sigonella won 4-1. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

The Sigonella Jaguars celebrate after defeating Ansbach 4-1 in the Division III boys final at the DODEA-Europe soccer championships in Ramstein, Germany, May 18, 2023. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Up to that point, however, it was an even match, as the Cougars (9-1) took Sigonella off its game.

Antonetty made a key save on a rebound after a Garcia free kick hit the post in the 29th minute, one of five in the match. Then, sophomore midfielder Daeveon Browne scored off his own rebound in the 32nd minute, tying the match after powering his way through the Sigonella defense.

That could have been the Cougars’ second goal, as sophomore co-captain Benjamin Schuck hit the crossbar in the 11th minute.

Ansbach coach Paul Rauscher praised his team’s performance over the 80 minutes, but he mentioned that couple-minute stretch in the second half as a backbreaker.

“You expect one team or another eventually to get one in, so you’re just going to come back and fight,” he said. “That PK really felt like the beginning of the end unfortunately. In less than 60 seconds, it turned around at the snap of a finger.”

That effort didn’t go unnoticed by the Cougars’ opponents.

In fact, Ansbach disrupted Sigonella’s game so much that the Jaguars turned to the Cougars’ tactics in the final 20 minutes. The Jaguars started pinging long through balls to Garcia and Czernielewski in hopes of breaking the deadlock.

And it worked with three goals in a 10-minute span.

“We were in a dogfight,” Caro said. “It was a fantastic game. Hats off to Ansbach for their effort. The second half, we really sucked it up and gave it our all and good things happened.”

The win completed a boys and girls sweep for the second consecutive year for the Jaguars. It prompted chants of “Sweeponella” as the boys team ran through a tunnel formed by the girls squad after the match.

“It’s amazing,” Garcia said. “There’s no words for it.”