Cathy DelaRosa, a Vilseck senior, pushes the ball past Cameron Prenger from Black Forest Acadmey during their DODDS-Europe Division II soccer tournament championship game Saturday at Ramstein. Vilseck defeated BFA 2-0. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Cathy DelaRosa, a Vilseck senior, pushes the ball past Cameron Prenger from Black Forest Acadmey during their DODDS-Europe Division II soccer tournament championship game Saturday at Ramstein. Vilseck defeated BFA 2-0. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Alyssa Krause, a sophomore from Black Forest Academy, front, and Leah Beilhart of Vilseck collide during the the title game of the DODDS-Europe Division II girls soccer tournament Saturday at Ramstein. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Rosa Leon, a junior from Vilseck High School, holds up an armband with the name “John” as her team celebrates their victory over Black Forest Academy Saturday at Ramstein. John Watseck was a member of the Vilseck boys soccer team who died in a car accident the first day of practice this season. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
European edition, Sunday, May 20, 2007
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Tamaria Hollis ended a long defensive stalemate single-handedly Saturday — first with a penalty kick and then another goal moments later — to lift Vilseck to the DODDS-Europe Division II girls soccer championship.
But after the 2-0 triumph over Black Forest Academy was all over, Hollis credited her teammates for the victory.
“There are no stars on this team,” she said.
The championship game was the fourth meeting between the teams this year. The previous three games all ended in ties.
“We were even all year. They are a fantastic group,” Vilseck coach Tim Connolly said of BFA.
The game was special for another reason. The Vilseck girls and boys soccer teams dedicated their seasons to John Watsek, a Vilseck senior and soccer player who died in a traffic accident on the first practice of the season.
The girls team, traumatized by their friend’s death, forfeited its first game of the year as the players coped with the loss.
“It’s been a tumultuous year,” Connolly said. “John was just a great guy. Everyone loved him.”
The girls wore black armbands during the championship game and had Watsek’s name written on their socks.
Both teams played semifinal games earlier in the day, winning by identical 2-0 scores. BFA beat Mannheim while Vilseck knocked off Naples.
For much of the game, shots on goal were few, perhaps a combintion of fatigue and strong defenses. Defenders on both side attacked, intercepting passes and scuttling offensive drives.
The defensive back-and-forth came to a halt when Hollis scored on a penalty kick about 27 minutes into the second half.
Her second goal came after she trapped the ball with her chest and drove a shot past the goalie.
“I was just trying to get it in there,” said Hollis, a forward.
Hollis praised the BFA defense, particularly Pricilla Buheitel, the tournament MVP.
“Pricilla is the toughest defender I’ve ever had to go through,” she said.
Division II boys late
The Division II boys championship game between BFA and Bitburg ended too late for this edition. The story will appear in Monday’s newspaper.
