Baumholder winger Trevor Cheney lobs a shot as Brussels center back Antonio Pranjic tries to get back during a May 4, 2024, match at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

BAUMHOLDER, Germany – Despite being such a young team, the Brussels boys soccer squad didn’t panic during the break of Saturday afternoon’s match against Baumholder at Minick Field.

The Brigands trailed the Buccaneers by one goal thanks to a gut-punch by the hosts’ Trevor Cheney with the last touch of the first half. That came despite Brussels producing three times as many shots on goal and dominating possession.

With six freshmen on the roster entering the season, the visitors could have collapsed. Instead, the Brigands showed composure to come back and top Baumholder 6-2.

“It was a little frustrating, but we knew that (the goals) were against the run of play,” Brussels midfielder Cade Wedekind said. “We knew we had many more chances – just had to focus and put away our chances.”

The second-half performance, in which the Brigands (3-3-1, 2-2-1) scored five unanswered goals, was yet another step forward in the development of the team, according to coach Andrew Langenstein.

After beginning the season 0-2 with seven losses to Ansbach and AFNORTH, Brussels has gone four straight Division III matches with positive results as it continues to climb up the standings.

“We’ve kind of had this mantra of ‘Week 1 us vs. Week now us,’” Langenstein said. “That’s the goal every week, to distance ourselves from where we were Week 1 every week. And the more we look like a different team each week, the better we’ve gotten.”

For 40 minutes, though, Baumholder (3-5, 3-5) proved to be a problem.

Goalkeeper Justin Anderson was like a brick wall. The sophomore, recently stepping between the sticks, made seven saves in the first half, including reaction parries to point-blank shots. He stopped a header off a corner in the opening minutes, pawed away a shot from distance by Wedekind in the 15th minute and used his feet to block another Wedekind low shot in the 24th minute.

Anderson fell one Wedekind rebound in the 25th minute short from posting the goose egg heading into halftime.

That wall came tumbling down in the second half. It started when a mishit defensive clearance fell to Wedekind, who accepted the gift to make it 2-2 in the 44th minute.

Then, in the final 20 minutes of the match, the Brigands dropped four goals, with Wedekind getting three of his five scores and Altin Ebipi getting a goal in the 69th minute off a rebound.

“Once one goes in, they all start going in,” Wedekind said. “You just have to get it over the first time. When it rains, it pours.”

Brussels midfielder Cade Wedekind tries to dribble around Baumholder center back Aziz Kurt inside the 18-yard box during a May 4, 2024, match at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Brussels center back Antonio Pranjic rises up to head a corner between Baumholder's Trevor Cheney, left, and Gabe Dubay, right, during a May 4, 2024, match at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Brussels striker Nandor Arnold leads a group Buccaners, from left, Elijah Washington, Justin Anderson and Ashlyn Brech, to the ball during a May 4, 2024, match at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Baumholder goalkeeper Justin Anderson boots the ball downfield during a May 4, 2024, match against Brussels at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Baumholder midfielder Nick Corbin throws in the ball during a May 4, 2024, match against Brussels at Minick Field in Baumholder, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Wedekind continued to show his importance for Brussels.

Last spring’s leading scorer dropped into a midfield role this season and turned more into a facilitator early. The past two weeks, however, Wedekind has found his shooting boots again, scoring eight goals.

The senior showed how much playing deeper has helped him on his final three goals Saturday. Wedekind dribbled himself through the defense for all of them, including the last two where he seemed to be contained at the edge of the box, only to create something out of nothing.

“We have noticed that playing (Wedekind) underneath gets him on the ball more and gets him in positions to score more instead of him hanging up (top) as a striker and waiting for the ball to come to him,” Langenstein said.

“But it’s no surprise that he scores that many. He does it for us every week. It’s become the expectation at this point.”

Although the scoreline got away from his team in the end, Baumholder coach Mark Dubé saw some positives outside of Anderson’s performance.

Cheney, who will not finish the season with the team, scored two goals over the final eight minutes of the first half.

That included a goal in the 33rd minute in which he got past the Brussels left back off a Nick Corbin throw-in, dribbling in from the right wing and putting the ball past goalkeeper Lukas Adams from a tight angle. Then he lobbed a long through ball from junior Sam Senatus over Anderson with the last touch of the opening 40 minutes.

The Baumholder coach said that halftime lead grew the team’s self-belief, which will prove crucial as the program tries to build a contender.

“It’s taken some time to build their confidence and believe in themselves,” Dubé said. “That’s one of our biggest roadblocks.

“I think Baumholder for the last number of years has not had very good seasons. So, it takes a while to change that mindset.”