Vilseck senior Shamyra Coleman, left, tangles with Ariana Eoff of Kaiserslautern Wednesday on opening day of the DODDS-Europe Division I soccer championship. Coleman led Vilseck to a 3-0 victory over Kaiserslautern in the Division I match. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Emma Murray scored two goals Wednesday to propel the Patch Lady Panthers to a 4-2 victory over defending champion International School of Brussels on Day 1 of the three-day DODDS-Europe girls Division I soccer tournament.
Janelle Loney and Claralynn Burt also scored for Patch, which clinched a berth in Thursday’s semifinals with two pool-play victories on opening day. Patch downed Kaiserslautern 2-1 earlier in the day to earn six points in Pool B and equaled their male counterparts with a 2-0 opening day record. Patch has one remaining pool game, against Vilseck on Thursday morning.
ISB was coming off a physical 1-1 tie against second-seeded Vilseck when it ran into the Patch buzzsaw.
The Raiders threw a blanket on Vilseck’s high-scoring senior, Shamyra Coleman, limiting Germany’s most prolific striker to an early goal, then introducing her to the artificial turf at the Rote Teufel Sports Park here every time it looked as though Coleman was about to break free.
"A lot of teams play me physical," Coleman said with a shrug afterward. "It’s going to happen. You’ve just got to play through it."
Coleman’s goal came in the game’s opening minutes, when she ran onto a perfect pass in the box from Tamaria Hollis and directed it into the net. The longtime teammates were unable to connect thereafter, however.
Coleman said opening against the defending champion made no difference.
"We know there a lot of other tough teams," she said.
In other girls games of note, Ramstein, the No. 1 seed in Division I, posted its eighth victory and seventh shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory over Lakenheath.
Because they play in a three-team pool, the victory ensured the unbeaten Lady Royals of a berth in Thursday’s semifinals. Whether they’ll play Patch or the other survivor from Pool B was undetermined Wednesday afternoon.
The loss to Patch dropped the Lady Lancers out of contention for the D-I crown because they also lost to Heidelberg 2-0 earlier in the day.
Asya Tucker and Katelyn Garner scored Heidelberg’s goals; Tucker’s was set up by Maggie Cutler, and Garner’s by Rebecca Luna.
"We had a good game," Heidelberg coach Jim McCauley said about downing Lakenheath. "We had good midfield control, and Lindsey Braden and Ashley Ross adjusted well to the bounce of the ball."
The bouncing ball was a bit of a challenge for most teams, which were playing on artificial turf for the first time this year.
"I prefer playing on natural grass," Coleman said. "Artificial turf is so much faster you have to be perfect with your passes."
Play continues Thursday in the D-I and IV tournaments, with Friday’s championship games set for Ramstein High School on Saturday. Divisions II and III begin their tournaments Thursday
