Ramstein players, from left, Isabelle Donkin, Audrey Singer and Claire Boynton prepare to move ahead of a corner kick while Kaiserslautern's Georgia Rawcliffe defends during a March 13, 2025, match at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

The Naples girls soccer team shouldn’t be nervous heading into the 2025 European championships in the Kaiserslautern Military Community on Monday through Thursday.

Sure, only six Wildcats are veterans from last year’s squad, but they are the two-time defending Division II European title winners. And they enter this spring’s festivities as the top seed once again after going 7-0 and 6-0 in Division II during the regular season.

Yet coach Maria Oropallo admitted that her players are feeling a little anxious. So Naples spent the early part of the week prior to the tournament not practicing skills but playing games to keep loose.

“The girls were really nervous because I guess it’s starting to click after (last) weekend, even though they felt strong,” Oropallo said. “This week, (Monday) especially, we’re just doing a lot of team bonding and just relaxing.”

Naples isn’t the only defending champion entering this year’s tournaments as the favorite to reclaim its crown.

In fact, all three title winners from last spring are the top seeds in their respective divisions with Ramstein in D-I and AFNORTH in D-III.

And like the Wildcats, the Royals (8-0, 7-0) and Lions (3-3, 3-0) can feel the nerves. They just handle them differently.

“There’s always pressure,” Ramstein coach Frances Watson said. “We feel the pressure, but we’re excited and I think we’re ready.”

For all the anxiety about the championships, Oropallo doesn’t have any doubt about her team’s talent.

Junior forward Emerson Shorey has nearly equaled her goal total from last campaign with 12 in the regular season. Freshman Amalia Selph has stepped into the attack, scoring seven times. Oropallo also credited senior Jazmin Miranda and junior Emma Heavey as strong in the center of the park.

The main group the Naples coach has been pleasantly surprised with is the backline, a unit full of new faces outside of sophomore Sonia Gottlieb. Despite the turnover, the Wildcats have given up just seven goals all season.

“There’s not one position on the field that I don’t feel isn’t the strength,” Oropallo said. “Our defense has just every single game gotten better and better. The most improved and the strongest I feel is our defense.”

Still, the Wildcats realize they have some big tests ahead of them, their coach said.

Although Naples defeated second-seeded Vicenza 4-1 on April 12, the Cougars (6-1-1, 5-1-1) were missing key players. Third-seeded Rota pushed the Wildcats until the end during a 3-2 victory on April 26.

“Rota surprised us when we were down in (Sigonella),” Oropallo said. “It was the one game where we felt majorly challenged, where we didn’t know how to read them. Luckily, we had a PK at the end that we actually won vs. tying with them.”

Naples’ Emerson Shorey scored three times Saturday, April 19, 2025, against Black Forest Academy and almost had a few more scores in the Wildcats’ 4-1 victory in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein, too, has faced its tests throughout the season, but the team’s offense has proven to be too much to handle.

Behind striker Claire Boynton and wingers Kayla Groat and Ava Smith, the Royals have totaled 40 goals. The closest match came in the opener, a 1-0 victory over crosstown rival and third-seeded Kaiserslautern (5-1-1, 4-1-1), on March 13.

No other match was closer than three goals.

A 73rd minute goal by Groat clinched that win over Kaiserslautern. It was one of two matches where the Royals turned it up a notch in the second half.

The other came in a 5-1 victory over second-seeded Stuttgart (5-1-1, 4-1-1) on May 3. Tied at 1-1 early in the second half, Ramstein exploded for four goals over an 18-minute span.

“Our girls possess everything that they need,” Watson said. “They have shown us time and time again how they come back. We’ve had a lot of second-half comebacks, and we’re very, very, very confident in their abilities and their skillsets.”

Offensive prowess aside, Watson has been pleasantly surprised by how quickly the defense has found its groove despite being completely new. The Royals have allowed just five goals all season.

The coach credited Reese Monson, Claire Larsen, Nailya McLeish, Mya Boynton and Chloe Dorado for protecting goalkeeper Bailey Bennett.

“The backline, we were really concerned about this year, and it’s a young line,” Watson said. “But they are showing up and showing out. We like it.”

Unlike the other two defending champions, AFNORTH has struggled a bit this spring.

Sitting at .500 overall this season, the Lions have played as many matches against Division I opposition as Division III. They have dropped all three of those contests against bigger schools – SHAPE (5-4 on March 28), Lakenheath (8-2 on April 12) and Wiesbaden (2-0 on May 3).

“We struggled to create chances for scoring against the more experienced teams in D-I, and that showed us some changes we needed to make,” AFNORTH coach Christy Wise said. “The team appreciated the push to grow.”

Playing Division III foes has been another matter. AFNORTH posted a 24-4 advantage in a pair of victories over third-seeded Brussels and another over second-seeded Spangdahlem.

The Lions haven’t seen fourth-seeded Sigonella, which went 1-0-2 in divisional play, and fifth-seeded Ansbach. With the round-robin format in the small-schools division, they will meet up with every team, which Wise said her squad is excited to do.

She also described her four seniors – Maggie Masse, Selah Skariah, Shannon O’Connor and Koren Russel – as motivated to complete the repeat. It won’t be up to just them, though.

“If each player is focused on doing their part, and can keep their energy high for every game, we will be happy with our efforts,” Wise said.