Ramstein's Keiran Goodall and Lakenheath's Joshua Gabel battle for the ball Monday, May 20, 2024, on the first day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
KAISERSLAUTERN and RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Throw out the regular season, the championships have begun.
That message was sent very clearly and very early Monday in the opening day of the DODEA European Division I soccer championships.
Wiesbaden, a 7-1 victor over Kaiserslautern during the regular season, was stunned by the Raiders 2-1 in the first match of the boys tournament. The Warriors now will have to upset top-ranked Stuttgart in pool play Tuesday if they want to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals and potentially to Thursday’s championships.
“It’s just a different mentality,” Wiesbaden coach Tariq Zangana said after the game. Before it, he said he had told his team not to take anyone lightly.
That sentiment was later echoed by Ramstein coach Dominik Ludes: “The first tournament game is about being able to handle nerves,” he said after his team’s 2-0 victory over Lakenheath. “That was evident today.”
Kaiserslautern’s Aaron Zamor had wasted a golden opportunity to tie the score midway through the first half when he lost control of the ball during a breakaway.
“I felt I had let the team down,” he said. “The rest of the match I just tried to pick them back up.”
His breakaway goal just seconds before halftime did just that and the game appeared to have shifted.
Wiesbaden, which held a 7-3 shots-on-goal advantage in the opening half, didn’t have another shot until late in the game. By that time, Zamor had scored again.
“We just don’t give up,” Kaiserslautern coach Enrique John said.
Unfortunately, for the Raiders, momentum didn’t carry over to their afternoon contest with Stuttgart. The Panthers came away with a 7-1 victory behind five combined goals from Itzak Sandoval and Ryan Stevenson.
SHAPE goalkeeper Sofia Tryon stretches as far as she can to try to stop a shot from Wiesbaden in the Spartans 1-1 tie with the Warriors on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Aaron Zamor, who scored two goals, battles with Wiesbaden's Jhon Colorado in the Raiders' 2-1 victory Monday, May 20, 2024, at the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Flavia Taveri goes to the ground to try to maintain possession as Wiesbaden's Nora Hygh closes in Monday, May 20, 2024, on the opening day of the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Gabe Urquhart tries to stay in front of Wiesbaden's Sean Heeter during a Warrior attack Monday, May 20, 2024, in the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern High School in Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Nora Hygh makes contact her hip as SHAPE's Georgia Green and Wiesbaden's Loren Venton watch Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Gabe Urquhart heads the ball in a match against Wiesbaden on the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships on Monday, May 20, 2024, in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Ella Kirk tries to navigate through a host of SHAPE defenders in the Panthers' 5-0 victory Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
In the other pool, SHAPE was dominant in a 7-0 victory over undermanned Vilseck. The Falcons lost one starter to a broken arm recently and have another receiving medical care for a stomach ailment. Charles Geib scored three times to lead a barrage in a contest that ended at the half.
Ramstein lost to the Spartans twice during the regular season and is hoping to borrow some magic from the crosstown rival Raiders in a meeting with the Spartans on Tuesday. If that doesn’t happen, then it’s likely that SHAPE and Stuttgart are headed for a finals matchup – barring an upset in the semifinals.
Kaiserslautern goalie Rihanna Martin gets set to stop a shot from Ramstein's Olivia Davis on Monday, May 20, 2024, during the opening day of the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Max Speed heads the ball against Lakenheath in the Royals 2-0 victory on the first day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships Monday, May 20, 2024, at Kaiserslautern High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Sophia St. Laurent tries to turn a free kick into points against SHAPE on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath goalkeeper Matthew Vasquez punches the ball away from a crowd of players in the Lancers' 2-0 loss to Ramstein on Monday, May 20, 2024, on the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Abigail Belote lifts the ball over a Kaiserslautern wall and towards the goal Monday, May 20, 2024, in the opening round of the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. Audrey Singer, making her way to the ball in the background just left of the wall, would score on the play. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Mason Money, left, and SHAPE's Marcos Gomez battle for the ball in the Spartans' 7-0 victory Monday, May 20, 2024, on the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern keeper Jada Hollis stops a shot from Ramstein's Kendra Brown on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Jack Murrer watches his shot on goal head toward the net Monday, May 20, 2024, during the opening day of the DODEA European Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Olivia Davis tries to get a shot past Kaiserslautern defenders Ryann Phillips, left, and Audrey Patterson on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
The girls tournament stayed pretty much to form, barring SHAPE’s 1-1 draw with Wiesbaden. The Spartans were 0-5 in D-I play during the season and the Warriors are the tourney’s No. 3 seed.
The top two teams won easily in the day’s final two matches. Ramstein defeated Kaiserslautern 5-1 and Stuttgart shut out SHAPE 5-0.
Isabel Fischer set up Claire Boynton for the Royals’ first goal, then scored another herself. Audrey Singer scored off Abigail Belote’s free kick as Ramstein took a 3-0 lead at half. Belote and Fischer scored again in the second half, sandwiching a goal from Kaiserslautern’s Georgia Rawcliffe.
“We have a game plan that’s worked for us all year and we’re not going to change it,” Ramstein coach Matt Langley said.
Stuttgart’s Regan Stewart scored the opening goal against SHAPE, then set up Madeleine Fleming for another. Eva Eaton then scored two consecutive goals on either side of halftime and an own goal finished the tally.
Stuttgart's Eva Eaton looks like she's trying to mentally guide a shot into the goal Monday, May 20, 2024 at the opening day of the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Regan Stewart deftly navitages the sideline while harried by SHAPE's Fiona Rahlfs on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Notes
Field conditions – hot, especially on the artificial turf at Ramstein where the girls are playing – are expected to be much different Tuesday with the potential of heavy rain. Morning fog was dense enough Monday that play started with the lights on at Kaiserslautern High where the boys tourney is being held until Thursday’s finals.
Stuttgart's Regan Stewart, a former gymnast, did a flip while tossing in the ball late in the Panthers' 5-0 victory over SHAPE on Monday, May 20, 2024, on the opening day of the DODEA European Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein High School. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
