Stratford JV vs. Memorial

Settling into the green stadium chair while hearing “green white” high decibel huddle cheer, the Spartans communicated “we are here for each other, we are strong, we are ready to fight”.  The character of Stratford America shone brightly Saturday during the challenging 90 minutes of play.

Memorial, physically imposing, kept control of the ball for the most of the game. 

The pace started out intense with our “knows no fear goalie “, Olivia Harbison, going to the ball with a Mustang colliding into and somersaulting over her.  With our confidence a bit shaken after the first 2 goals early in the first half, the Spartans were able to regroup for the second half and found ways to adapt to this level of play with more opportunities at the goal that led to a score off the foot of Nicole Abbey from an indirect kick from midfield by Layla Walker.  Our defense stayed true to their fierce competitive nature, but the Mustangs persevered with two more unreachable goals. The final outcome did not reflect our abilities, but we are grateful for the invaluable experience to become a wiser better team and grateful to have another chance to see: 

Syamken’s creation for her space with refusal to be intimated

Michel’s playing with her entire heart

Bella’s brave battle headers

Miller’s relentless fight for the ball

Walker’s graceful stealth style kicks

Harbison’s whole body sacrificial moves to stop goals

Byrd’s getting to the ball like a storm chaser and keeping it alive

Haygood’s no panic “I got this” ball control

Evett’s fast feet back on the turf with her healing bones

Vinson - Gay’s spunky get things done gait

Blaylock’s consistent ability to play the pass and make the pass

Spartans, keep up your strong unwavering courage and keep cheering each other on. The best is yet to come!

JV Women’s Soccer vs. Spring Woods High School (4-0 W)

The Stratford Women’s JV Soccer team came out strong Wednesday night against Spring Woods.  A solid defense and unrelenting attack lead to a 4-0 victory and two very bored goalies.  Olivia Harbison and Huma Sawaf combined forces to ensure a Spartan shut-out, keeping the slate clean during district play.  The first goal of the match was a beautiful corner kick from Abby Lumpkin which bounced around near the net and was punched in by Nicole Abbey.  The second goal came off a hard cross from Elizabeth Byrd and was headed in by Nicole Abbey, her second for the evening.   The first half came to a close with most of the action down by the Spring Woods goal. 

Coming out of the half strong, the third goal of the match came from Gracie Howard with a nice ball off her left foot above the outstretched arms of the Spring Wood goalie.  The fourth and final goal came from a deflected shot from Bre Blaylock to the feet of Brooke McAfee who struck it cleanly into the back of the net.

The backline tonight was solid with Claire Lamon, Lucy Roche, Piper Miller, Layla Walker, and Abby Lumpkin with Bella Lester holding strong in the mid field.  Way to play hard Spartans!