Marymount's Katia Chen goes diving forward as Aviano's Kiana Williams gets around her Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO, Italy – Sometimes, the regular season finale can be a sign of things to come in the tournament.
Following a pair of lopsided soccer matches Saturday, Aviano girls coach Sarah Hartman hopes that is indeed the case and her Marymount counterpart Phil Davis does not. And both boys coaches really couldn’t think about momentum as they were playing far different rosters than they’ll likely field in next week’s DODEA-Europe Division II championships next week.
Aviano's Briley Trimble scored the game's first goal by getting a kick past Marymount keeper Madeline Cucchi before the two players collided Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Kiana Williams tries to break free to the goal in the Saints' 5-0 victory over Marymount on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. Marymount's Katia Chen, left, tries to block her way. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Katia Chen successfully blocks a kick from Aviano's Briley Trimble with her body Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Sara Mei Fussinger marks Marymount's Simona Pan on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano 5, Marymount 0: The Saints scored a rare lopsided victory for their second win of the season.
Freshman center midfielder Delaney Garcia scored two goals – doubling her total for the rest of the season – as the Saints outshot the Royals 27-4.
“Good way to end the season for sure,” Hartman said. “It’s good momentum heading into the tournament.”
Aviano led only 1-0 at the half, despite dominating possession. That score came on junior Briley Thomas beating Marymount keeper Madeline Cucchi to the ball – just in time to kick it towards the goal before the two collided. Both were on the ground when the ball found the net.
Garcia, who started playing soccer at the age of 4 at Spangdahlem, opened the second half with a shot from about 19 yards out. Senior Ily Zamora, playing her final home contest, made it 3-0 after receiving a nice pass from Sara Mei Fussinger that left Zamora unguarded.
Kiana Williams followed with what might have been the nicest goal of the day – lofting the ball over Cucchi’s head into the back of the net.
Garcia finished off the scoring with another goal from roughly the same area as her first one.
“That one was unexpected. But that’s my spot,” she said.
Davis said his team has played better than its 0-5-1 record might indicate.
“We’re getting better,” he said. “It may not seem like it because of the score, but we are.”
As for the Saints, Zamora said she hopes that other teams might be looking past them at the tournament that starts May 18 in venues around Kaiserslautern, Germany.
“I think we can surprise some people as long as we play for each other,” she said. “When we get away from that …”
An Aviano wall of Caellum Johnston, from left, Toby Canales and Mark Casillas watch the ball go past them and into the net Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. Marymount's Giovanni Cecchetti scored on the free kick just before the final whistle. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Leo Merico breaks free from two Aviano defenders Saturday, May 9, 2026, in a match in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Sattan Faisal tries to fend off Aviano's William Fussinger on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount and Aviano players battle for the ball after a corner kick Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Sebastian Furstenberg Fassio and Aviano's Eddy Kim race for the ball Saturday, May 9, 2026, during a DODEA-Europe soccer match in Aviano, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount 7, Aviano 1: The Royals will be one of the favorites at the Division II tournament along with American Overseas School of Rome and Naples.
But the team that Marymount fielded Friday against Vicenza and Saturday against the Saints featured less than half the program’s roster.
Coach Kris McAdam said 15 players didn’t play in the two games due to illness, testing and other reasons.
Saints coach Ian Birch said his squad will look much different in the championships as well as half a dozen players saw more limited playing time than usual.
So if nothing else, the result indicated the Royals have a lot more depth than the Saints do.
“We were happy with a few of the goals that we thought were quite good and there were also a few we got lucky,” McAdam said.
Marymount opened the scoring early when Leo Merico’s shot from a difficult angle went through the legs of Aviano keeper Vincent Power. Nicolo Cerqua made it 2-0 moments later when his shot from about 20 yards out bounced off Power’s hands and into the net.
It was 3-0 at halftime after the ball bounced right to Sattam Faisal after ricocheting around after a corner kick and he booted it in from 5 yards.
Faisal started the second half where he left off, catching the Saints off guard by booting a kick into the goal from the left corner less than a minute after play resumed. Drake Warren made it 5-0 when his kick from 10 yards bounced off the crossbar and dropped into the net.
Aviano ruined the shutout when Logan Lawicki scored on a breakaway, attacking from the left side.
Marymount added two more goals to cement the victory. Pedro Braz Martins scored despite the efforts of Aviano defender Cooper Oakley, who saved an initial shot with a leaping header that carried him inside the goal – only for the ball to land at Braz Martins’ feet.
The Royals added another tally when Tomasso Ilari’s free kick made its way through an Aviano wall and into the net just before the final whistle blew.
Marymount split with Naples during the season and lost to AOSR. McAdam said his team’s mental toughness will determine how far it goes in the championship after it blew 1-0 leads in both of its losses during the season.
“It’s all about (mental) toughness for us,” he said. “Physically, we’re very gifted and we’ve got good players. But when we’ve gotten down and something goes against us, we’ve collapsed. We can’t do that again.”
