Kaiserslautern's Isaac Phillips took the ball away from Wiesbaden's Carter Edwards before the two collided Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I boys soccer championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Jonas Ballesteros Burkett picked a pretty good time to shine Monday on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Division I boys soccer championships.
The sixth-seeded Lancers found themselves in a 1-1 tie in the second half with No. 3 seed SHAPE at Kaiserslautern High School.
Ballesteros Burkett, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz., stepped up to take a free kick about 30 yards away from the goal on the left side of the field after a teammate was fouled and had to leave the field. It found the lower left corner of the net.
“I just did what my coach told me,” he said.
And how did this rank among his goals for the season.
“It’s my first one,” he said.
“He’s come so close this season,” Lancers coach Grant Severts said. “And for him to do it now, it was really big for us.”
Lakenheath’s 2-1 victory, followed by a 3-1 loss to Ramstein later in the day, means the Lancers need to defeat Vilseck on Tuesday and have the favored Royals knock off the Spartans for them to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals.
The victory was the only one of the day in either the boys or girls tournaments where a lower seed won.
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise,” Severts said. “We don’t look at it like we’re underdogs. When we’re playing our game, we can play with anybody.”
No. 5 Wiesbaden tried to open the day with a mild upset over No.4 Kaiserslautern. Freshman Zachary Wigglesworth’s perfectly placed corner kick curled into the goal with less than a minute into the match and the Warriors’ carried that lead into halftime.
After that, though, the Raiders’ offense started to click. Ethan Miller, crossing in front of the goal, picked up a ball that Wiesbaden failed to clear and left booted it in to tie the score. Kaiserslautern defender Isaac Phillips then turned in what was probably the highlight of the game, eluding multiple defenders while dribbling the ball to midfield. He then paused before launching a kick towards the goal that Ryan Suthers ran down and scored, putting the Raiders up for good.
“I actually bumped into a teammate,” Phillips said of the pause. “Then I saw my right-winger and I just fed him a through ball.”
Kaiserslautern now had the momentum and Josh Otto added to that, stealing the ball from a defender about 20 yards for the goal and then driving in for a score. Jaden Ruiz got one goal back after booting in a ricochet from a corner kick. But Miller scored again, with the deflection of Otto’s attempt landing right at his feet before going into the net.
Ramstein wanted no part of the upset bug, outshooting Vilseck 14-0 in the first half to take a two-goal lead before emerging with a 7-0 victory. Top-seeded Stuttgart then broke the Warriors’ hearts again with a 1-0 victory.
SHAPE’s Marten Muurisepp gets the ball past oncoming Lakenheath goalkeeper Matthew Vasquez on Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I boys soccer championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Marten Muurisepp scored, but the Lancers won 2-1. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Liam Ho gets the ball away before the Kaiserslautern defense can converge Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe boys Division I soccer championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Santiago Idaragga and Vilseck's Dominic Atambila try to keep each other from the ball Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I boys soccer championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sideline judge Paul Gregory watches Ramstein's Kai Woodstock keep the ball in play Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I boys soccer championships at Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Girls
Form held true in the girls tournament at Ramstein Air Base and there wasn’t much drama left at the end of any of the contests.
Second-seeded Stuttgart, fresh off a 7-0 win over Vilseck, got a brief scare by falling behind 1-0 to sixth-seeded Lakenheath when Peyton Caranta struck suddenly from long distance to give the Lancers the lead.
Lakenheath sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Gager Clark valiantly made the lead hold up for a while, making a series of four diving saves to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard. Another shot from Meredith Fleming hit the cross bar. And one from Madeleine Fleming was just a few inches higher.
Oddly, it was a shot with seemingly much less of a chance – Evangeline Eaton’s boot from 35 yards away that bounced over Clark’s head into the goal – that got Stuttgart going on the way to a 6-1 victory.
Sienna Ingle broke the tie minutes later by kicking in Meredith Fleming’s shot that Clark deflected. Then Madeleine Fleming made it 3-1before halftime by finishing off a long run on goal that included side-stepping Clark and finishing into an empty net.
Ingle raced up the left side of the field at the beginning of the second half to score again, Meredith Fleming and Ingle finished off the scoring.
Stuttgart assistant coach Chris Kelly said he didn’t think his team started off too overconfident after its initial win.
“I think you just have to give credit to Lakenheath,” he said. “They played their hearts out for a while. We weren’t panicked. We were getting opportunities and we felt we would eventually start to capitalize on them.”
Top seeded Ramstein also won comfortably in its only match of the day, topping Wiesbaden 4-0.
Claire Boynton scored twice for the Royals, stealing the ball right before it got to goalkeeper Meghan McConville after a long boot toward the goal from Kyndra Brown and later booting the ball past an oncoming McConville after winning a ball about 10 yards in front of the goal.
Ramstein's Claire Boynton watches her shot get by Wiesbaden goalkeeper Meghan McConville on Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath goalkeeper Taylor Gager Clark stops a shot from Stuttgart's Meredith Fleming while Lakenheath's Yulianna Petrich trails the play Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Nayla McLeish and Wiesbaden's Maira Valdez clash Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Madeleine Fleming outruns Lakenheath's Anabella Potenzone, left, and Katerina Vargas on a breakaway Monday, May 19, 2025, at the DODEA-Europe Division I girls soccer championships at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
