Hohenfels claws its way into title match with AFNORTH

LANDSTUHL, Germany — It’s been a long time since the Hohenfels boys soccer program has won anything.

The Tigers have an opportunity to end that drought Thursday at the Division III 2026 DODEA European soccer championships.

Hohenfels shocked defending-champion Ansbach with a goalless draw Wednesday morning at Rothenborn Stadium in the second-to-last round-robin contest, eventually winning on penalties 4-3.

That meant the Tigers needed just one point in Wednesday’s later match against Spangdahlem to knock out the Cougars and move on to face AFNORTH in the tournament finale. They got more than that with a 5-2 victory.

Coach Joe Dreger said he had 72 messages on his phone congratulating the squad for advancing to the championship match.

“We’re trying to take down two decades of bad results and struggle,” Joe Dreger said. “It means everything to the kids and the school.”

Needing just to take the match against the Cougars to penalty kicks to set themselves up for the later match, the Tigers implemented a curveball not just for their opponents but themselves, too.

Dreger sat with three players Tuesday in the hotel lobby — his son Joey Dreger, Joaquin Felix and Felix Abaldo — and they talked about switching from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-5-1. That boosted the defense, with Joey Dreger moving back towards his own goal.

The Hohenfels coach taught his players the new tactics Wednesday morning outside the hotel, and it worked.

“It was a lot of, ‘What in the heck is going on?’” the younger Dreger said of his teammates’ reactions to the changes. “Nobody was ready for that. Everybody was a bit confused, but you show the players the strategy behind it, everyone understood their job.”

Once it went to penalties, Hohenfels’ hero proved to be goalkeeper Julian Gonsalves.

The sophomore hadn’t played soccer before this season. Coach Dreger explained how Gonsalves wanted to play tight end for the football team in the fall but couldn’t when the program couldn’t get enough numbers to field a team.

The Tigers slotted him into the net because of his hands, and he had shown steady improvement, the coach said. But he had struggled with penalties leading up to the tournament, even after facing 20 minutes of penalties at practice the week before.

On Wednesday, he saved the first two penalties kicks, which was enough to give the Tigers the win.

“When he saved the first one, he was jumping up and down, and the joy that he had and was expressing was just amazing,” coach Dreger said. “I was 60 yards away, and you could hear Julian yelling, ‘That’s my first-ever penalty save.’ ”

Hohenfels still had work to do against Spangdahlem, and the team didn’t start off on the right foot. The Sentinels scored first to put the Tigers under pressure, but that served as a wake-up call.

“They got the first goal, we got our heads straight and we got the job done from there,” Joey Dreger said.

Next for Hohenfels is AFNORTH, which finished the round robin with an unbeaten record. The Lions clinched their spot in the final with wins of 6-0 and 4-0 over Brussels and Baumholder on Wednesday.

Coach Manny Duarte praised his team for performing well while managing minutes and staying healthy. He also said his team kept its composure by avoiding cards, too.

The Lion mentor said the players must repeat that Thursday against a hungry Hohenfels squad to reclaim the D-III title they lost last year.

“It’s just a repeat of what we’ve been doing all season except putting it all together and maintaining our heads about us, keeping our composure will help us along the way,” Duarte said.

Hohenfels, meanwhile, enters the match with great belief.

Thursday will be the third matchup between the two teams this season. They opened the campaign with AFNORTH winning 4-3. On Tuesday, the squad went to penalties before the Lions came out on top.

Coach Dreger said the Tigers are hoping third time’s the charm.

“I joked with Manny today, I said to him, ‘Hey man, you beat us straight up the first time. We tied the second time. Next time should be ours,’” coach Dreger said. “He kind of laughed it off a little bit.

“We’ve been teaching all year: one step forward, one step better than last time. Hopefully, this last step is our best step.”

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Coach Christy Wise and her AFNORTH squad heard a half-dozen times from other coaches and parents that their match with Spangdahlem on Wednesday morning didn’t really matter.

The Lions and Sentinels already had booked their tickets to the Division III title match of the 2026 DODEA European soccer championships on Thursday, meaning Wednesday’s meeting at Rotherborn Stadium had little effect on the race for the European crown.

The Lions didn’t listen to those words, however. They went out and defeated the Sentinels in the final round-robin match 2-1.

“The common feeling was yeah, we could have just rested and not put too much of ourselves into the game,” Wise said. “For us, it mattered, even though it’s the same thing again tomorrow.”

The Sentinels (5-1-1) weren’t overlooking the match either, according to coach Josia Onyango.

Spangdahlem and AFNORTH (7-0-1) drew in their regular-season matchup, and both teams were seeking the mental edge ahead of the final.

“We knew we both had equal strength,” Onyango said. “We knew this was coming.

“AFNORTH has very good players, very experienced players.”

Clara Pacios opened the scoring in the first half with a shot that deflected off a Sentinel and into the back of the net. In the second half, Spangdahlem forward Lexi Lauer got her team on the board, while Victoria Hellebust scored the match-winner for the Lions.

Wise praised Spangdahlem’s effort, as well as her team’s for rising to the occasion.

“Every touch, every pass was a battle,” Wise said. “Spang didn’t give us anything easy, and I think both teams were fighting really hard today for every bit of ground that we could cover.”

The match almost ended up in another tie if not for the heroics of AFNORTH goalkeeper Avery Sweeney.

The senior was called into action when late in the first half, Spangdahlem earned a penalty. Senior midfielder Kylie McVey stepped up to take it, only for Sweeney to make the save. McVey pounced on the rebound, but once against she was thwarted by the Lion netminder.

It allowed AFNORTH to preserve a one-goal advantage heading into halftime.

“We’re super proud of the poise of our goalkeeper,” Wise said. “I won’t say she never gets rattled, but she kept her cool and reacted when we needed it. It really helped team morale.”

Now, both teams turn their attention toward the championship game. Kickoff is 9 a.m. Thursday at Ramstein High School.

And while Wise said her players took the round-robin game seriously, they can’t rest on their laurels. Thursday, the Lions will have to adjust to whatever the Sentinels throw at them.”

“We learned that we do have what it takes (Wednesday),” Wise said. “We just need to make sure that we have just as much or more (Thursday).”