European edition, Sunday, July 1, 2007
To maintain a place on the boys’ All-Europe soccer first team, it apparently helped to pack some scoring punch.
Hohenfels senior Anthony Marshall made the first team for a third straight season, chiefly by scoring a staggering 24 goals.
As Hohenfels coach Shawn Rodman was quick to point out, however, Marshall’s output didn’t come at the expense of his teammates’ chances. Marshall hit double figures in assists, too, with 12.
“Despite his talent,” Rodman wrote on the nomination form for his recently graduated star, “he is very unselfish and does what he has to do in order for the team to be successful.”
The other repeat first-teamers — junior Chris Davis of Division I champion Lakenheath, senior Sean Kerber of Heidelberg and senior Brian Schwenneker of D-II runner-up Bitburg — didn’t score nearly as many goals as Marshall, but still factored into a lot of offense.
A nine-goal scorer who handed out five assists, Davis “was involved in scoring or assisting on 66 percent of our goals,” his coach, Garrett Billington, wrote. “His play kept us in every game.”
Kerber, who moved from striker to center midfielder this season, saw his goal total drop from 17 in 2006 to five regular-season tallies in his new role. But those goals represented 30 percent of the 17 scores the Lions amassed during their run to the D-I regular-season title.
Schwenneker, who coach David Abbott said can kick a soccer ball 70 meters, scored eight times and handed out nine assists despite playing defense.
“Brian is the most athletically talented boys’ soccer player I have ever coached,” Abbott concluded.
Joining the scoring parade on 2007’s top tier was senior forward Billy Reed of D-II champion Black Forest Academy. Reed, picked for the first time, registered 20 goals in 12 games.
Two seniors moved from the 2006 second team to this season’s top tier. Wiesbaden midfielder Hakan Demircan and Heidelberg central defender Andrew Harrington weren’t picked for their scoring, however.
“Andrew ran the defense,” retiring Heidelberg coach Larry Heintzman wrote, “and was a major factor in preventing goals scored against us.”
Demircan, according to his coach, Ben Arcila, showed nothing less than “the potential to play for a good college team in the States.”
Senior mids John Secules of London Central, a second-teamer in 2006, and Chris Eden of AFNORTH also were voted to their second All-Europe teams.
Eden, a first teamer in 2006, made the second team this time, as did Secules.
In all, 15 of 2007’s top 30 were seniors. The panel chose 10 juniors and five sophomores. No freshmen were chosen.
