KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Ramstein and Kaiserslautern soccer teams could have let the off-the-field drama affect them.

Yet when they stepped onto the field Thursday afternoon at Kaiserslautern High School, all four teams shut out the noise a mere 21 hours after DODEA-Europe announced a pause in all student extracurricular activities.

DODEA administrators since have walked back that declaration somewhat to allow some sporting events on the scheduled opening weekend of the spring season.

The Royals and Raiders got a sense of normalcy with their season openers. Ramstein swept both matches with the boys winning 3-0 and the girls squeaking out a 1-0 victory.

“We just focused on this game,” Ramstein boys senior striker Joseph Yost said. “We ignored what’s happening after that because we can’t change that. It’s out of our hands.”

The matches were the culmination of two weeks of practice. And the players and coaches were happy to show off their work Thursday.

“We’ve been working hard in our preseason, and we’re just ready to play,” Ramstein girls left winger Kayla Groat said.

Girls

In the 73rd minute of a scoreless match, Groat received a ball that teammate Claire Boynton dribbled from the right wing to the top left side of the box.

Groat saw she had a shot and decided to take a whack at it.

“I wanted to score, I wanted to help my team win and I just wanted to get it in the goal,” Groat said. “I could kind of tell it was going in (when I hit it).”

The sophomore’s goal that flew over Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Jada Hollis proved to be the difference, as nobody else found the back of the net Thursday.

For more than 50 minutes, it seemed as though the match was destined for a goalless draw. Mostly a cagey affair, scoring opportunities were scarce with just one shot on goal from either team.

After that, though, offensive chances exploded. Ramstein and Kaiserslautern got into dangerous situations, like when Raider captain Georgia Rawcliffe found herself behind the Royal defense in the 52nd minute, only to shoot just wide.

Then, in the 63rd minute, Ramstein freshman midfielder Reese Monson ended up with the ball deep in the box after it had pinballed off a corner, just for the shot to hit the post and bounce out for a goal kick.

Those were just some of the few heart-stopping moments late in the contest.

“It was a pretty intense game,” Ramstein senior Kyndra Brown said. “I’m really proud of the way the team played. If this is how we play the first game, I’m excited to see how much better we’ll be by Euros.”

Brown kept her team in the match during one of the better chances in the 66th minute.

Ramstein goalkeeper Bailey Bennett, whom Kaiserslautern coach Maggie Phillips called one of the best her team has seen in some time, left the net wide open when she tried to beat a Raider to a through ball.

It eventually ended up with Rawcliffe who lobbed a shot from distance on goal. Brown recovered and cleared the ball off the line.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Brown said. “That’s why we work as a team, to cover each other.”

Phillips said if Rawcliffe had fired just a second sooner, her shot would have found the back of the net.

Still, she said she cannot complain about her team’s performance. The Raiders held their own against the Division I champions, which validated their title aspirations in their coach’s eyes.

“I plan on this being the championship match and it going the other way around,” Phillips said. “So, I need them a little mad.

“It went quite how I thought it would, and they performed really well.”

Boys

Ramstein had early control of its match against Kaiserslautern but nothing to show for it.

Then, in the 16th minute, Keiran Goodall launched a free kick from the right wing into the box. There he found his teammate Yost, who thumped the ball for the season’s first goal.

Coach Dominik Ludes couldn’t have been more thrilled with the start and not just because it sparked a comfortable win for the Royals.

“We’ve been practicing set plays the last couple practices,” he said. “It’s something really nice when you work on that in training and it actually happens in the game.”

The victory started Ramstein’s title defense on the right note. The Royals did lose a lot of talent, but Yost declared his belief that the team will be near the top of Division I come late May.

“We feel our team is stronger this year than it was last year,” Yost said. “We challenge any team to bring a fight to us. We’re going to give them our hardest.”

The Royals doubled their lead 16 minutes later through Nathan Rachamim. The former Kaiserslautern player picked up the ball outside the box, juked a defender to create space and fired a shot that despite hitting Raider goalkeeper Finn Derby’s gloves bounced over the line.

Goodall then sealed the victory with a goal in the 49th minute.

Rachamim said he found it interesting being on the opposite side of one of DODEA-Europe’s fiercest rivalries.

“It was something new, but I’m always down to embrace challenge,” he said. “That defines me as a person, it felt good.”

Although the visitors eventually broke through, they struggled against Kaiserslautern’s high defensive line for much of the match. The Royals were whistled for offside nine times, including six in the first half.

Ludes didn’t seem concerned about his players not being able to hold off their runs on through balls, though.

“Timing on those plays is critical,” he said. “Being the first game of the season, it’s absolutely normal that the timing isn’t there. But that will come with more games, with more time.”

The Raiders eventually grew into the match and started to get more possession over the final 25 minutes. It proved too little, too late for coach Enrique John, but he also said his team can produce more offensively.

“They’re a young team,” John said. “They’re still trying to find themselves, and I think this game was a learning experience for what we need to do better for the upcoming games.”

K-town Sports

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