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Varsity Boys Soccer Week of February 3

By RICCI & JULIE SICILIANO, 02/17/20, 10:15AM CST

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The Stratford Boys Varsity Soccer Team plays Cypress Falls to a 1-1 tie but gets the win vs a tough Jersey Village 3-1!

 

Stratford had the kickoff on an away start vs Cypress Falls on Feb 4th. Cypress Falls had the edge on possession the first five minutes picking up on a few Stratford passing miscues. But they were not able to come up with any scoring threats against the tight Stratford defense. The balance changed to Stratford’s favor with a Cypress Falls foul 10 yards out from the penalty area on the right side. Milan Jokic took the kick and his first attempt bounced off the line of players Cypress Falls had positioned in front of the goal. The ball rebounded right back to Milan and his second shot went between the legs of the same Cypress Falls players. This might have shielded the sight of the goalie because he did not have enough time to react and stop the ball from going into the lower left corner of the goal for the score. Play was balanced until 12 minutes left in the half when Milan Jokic had another free kick 18 yards out from the penalty area. This time there was no favorable rebound, but Stratford maintained possession until the Cypress Falls goalie made a grab of a shot attempt. Stratford held off further Cypress Falls offensive initiatives by getting on the end of some opponent passes and coming out the winner on possession challenges. The half ended with Stratford ahead 1-0.

Cypress Falls came out quick in the second half making several offensive runs, but they were turned back by good Stratford team defense and an offsides. At 9 minutes in Francies Galdino stole the ball on the left side an got off a long shot that went over the goal. Two minutes later Patrick Ndaye made a cross field pass with the far side player feeding to Thommaso Maule on the right side. Thommaso got off a long high shot that was grabbed by a leaping goalie. Cypress Falls did a good job with time of possession to this point. They were just not able to get turned around for good shots due to the Stratford team defense. This was the story until just two minutes left in the half when Cypress Falls made a long throw in from the deep right side. The throw went all the way to the near post of the goal. A Cypress Falls player got a header on the ball for a high arch to the left side. There another Cypress Falls player was positioned for another header into the right side of the goal. Stratford had held their opponent scoreless for a tense 78 minutes only to see victory slip away at the last. Needless to say, the Cypress Falls fans were as excited about this outcome as Stratford fans and players were disappointed. Such is the emotional difference of the order of things even though the game ended with the 1-1 tie.

But the memories of that game were soon to be wiped clear with a convincing victory vs Jersey Village the next Friday in the friendly confines of the Backyard soccer field. Jersey Village came in undefeated and atop the standings based on win percentage. And the beginning of the game did not bode well for our stalwart Spartans as Jersey Village displayed their quickness and defensive pressure for an edge in time of possession for the first 10 minutes. At that point Jersey Village broke a player free for a one on one, but Nathan Siciliano broke up the chance with a great sliding tackle. The defense continued to hold off Jersey Village when with 14 minutes left in the half, Francies Galdino got the ball off a throw in and caught Jack Manke in the center of the field about 25 yards out. Jack’s shot slipped right under the goal cross bar and above the goalie for the score and a 1-0 lead. This pushed up Jersey Village’s intensity which resulted in some close scoring chances but no payoff to the end of the half.

Jersey Village had the kickoff to start the second half and managed four shots on goal in the first ten minutes. But Nick Hay was able to gather them all except the last one. That shot came on another fast break of a Jersey Village player and a one on one with the Stratford defense. This time the tackle attempt was just late and the Jersey Village player got off the shot with some pace and a score tying the game at 1-1. Jersey Village had a couple more scoring chances after that, but Stratford seemed to figure out the Jersey Village defense and tipped time of possession in their favor for the next 14 minutes. At that point, Yuto Komiya had the ball in the penalty area on the left side and was tripped by a Jersey Village player as he made a move to the center. Milan Jokic took the penalty shot. As the goalie guessed right, the shot went left for the tie breaking score. Jersey Village got off three more shots in the next seven minutes without scoring. Then with 3 minutes left in the match Stratford had a throw in on the right side. The ball went directly to Jack Manke who fed the ball to Thommaso Maule. Thommaso got a one touch shot past the diving goalie for the score. It was the kind of play you would see in the Men in Blazer’s highlights. All that was left was to disrupt Jersey Village’s offensive chances. The game ended with the convincing victory and a final score of 3-1.

Stratford has a bye on Tuesday Feb 11th and Spring Woods visits the Spartans at home Saturday Feb 15th See you at the pitch!