Girls soccer roundup
Patch stays perfect by topping Heidelberg
All-Europe midfielder Emma Murray banged home two goals Saturday to lift the two-time defending European Division I champion Patch Lady Panthers to a 4-0 road victory over Region III and D-I rival Heidelberg.
Kaileen Pritchard and Lauren Rittenhouse also found the net for the champions, who improved to 2-0 overall and in the region.
But scoring was just part of the story for the champs. So dominating was Patch on defense that the Lady Panthers’ goalkeeper, Ellie Welson, was called on to make just one save.
Heidelberg fell to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the region.
In other girls’ soccer of note:
Ramstein 5, Lakenheath 1: Friday at Ramstein, NCAA Division I-bound midfielder Josie Seebeck scored three goals and set up sister Kat for another score as the Lady Royals rolled. Defensive stalwart Mackenzie Crews also registered a Ramstein tally.
According to Ramstein coach Ricardo Buitargo, Ramstein (3-0 overall) turned two of the three set plays they were awarded into goals, and benefited for the third time this season from superior defensive play by Crews, Chantelle DuBois, Kat Seebeck and Tori Coleman.
As usual, Josie Seebeck and Rebecca Coleman controlled the midfield for Ramstein.
Kaiserslautern 2, Lakenheath 0; Saturday at Kaiserslautern, the Lady Raiders made Lakenehath their third shutout victim in as many games this season.
Arianna Osmar and Ally Murphy collected the first-half goals for K-town. Emily Crawford, who handed out four assists and scored a goal herself in Friday’s 6-0 victory at Bitburg, collected her fifth assist of the weekend by setting up Murphy’s tally. Osmar scored twice in Bitburg as did her teammate Kennedi White; Murphy also found the net in Bitburg.
Despite being shut out, Lakenheath, according to K-town coach Brian Daly, provided a stiff challenge to his back line in the person of forward Katie Claunch. “She kept moving forward,” Daly said by telephone, “putting our defense to the test. She had five shots on goal.”
All, however, were handled by K-town keeper Rachel Hook, who came up with eight saves on the day.
Aviano 4, Sigonella 1: Saturday at Sigonella, Aviano broke open a 1-0 game after intermission behind two Madeline O’Brien goals.
Allyson Dinges and Emma Reddy also scored for Aviano (2-1), which overcame 14 saves by Sigonella keeper Rachel Vosler, according to Jaguars’ coach Shawn McCarthy. He said Vosler’s effort kept his team in the game.
Naples 3, Vicenza 2: Saturday at Naples, the Lady Wildcats remained unbeaten behind two goals from All-European Alexandra Mack.
According to Naples coach Melinda Durham, Katie Waller added the other goal for Naples (3-0). All three scores were assisted by Isabella Lucy.
Menwith Hill 3, Baumholder 0: Saturday at Menwith Hill, Samantha Cubbler curled in picture-perfect shots from just outside the penalty box to put the game away, according to Lady Mustangs coach Pete Resnick.
Brittany Dixon’s 18th-minute goal opened the scoring for Menwith Hill, which is taking a 3-0 record into the spring holidays. Baumholder fell to 0-3.
Brussels 5, Alconbury 0: Saturday at Steerebeek, Belgium, Ali DeFazio and Gabby Friedhoff each scored twice to help the Lady Brigands rebound from an opening-game loss to International School of Brussels of Division I.
In an email report of the game, Brussels coach Jacob Myers said his team “displayed great overall ball movement and support in the midfield and up top that lead to multiple scoring opportunities.”
So many, in fact, that Alconbury keeper Christina Crowder, who began playing the position on Friday, was forced to make 19 saves.
Mylers added that his back line of Aleeza Vitale, Paige Brown and Claire Rumery “played tough team defense.”
