vs. Katy

29-March-2022

(Write-up pulled from the Houston Chronicle. To view the article in its entirety visit Strong start lifts Stratford past Katy in area round (houstonchronicle.com)

Stratford’s first goal came in the fourth minute when Mia Thames received a pass from Ellie Stevenson, outran the Katy defender and beat the goalie one-on-one. Two minutes later, Lauren Ahearn scored off a stellar throw-in from Cameron Ballard. A minute after that, Ahearn got the ball with a bit of empty space around her and booted it in from over 25 yards out. The three goals scored by Stratford happened within a three-minute stretch.

Rileigh Toner and Hope Coltrin accounted for Stratford’s two second-half goals. Outstanding performance by goal keepers Allison Zilafro (first half) and Erica Eastman (second half). The final score was Stratford 5 – Katy 0.  

With this victory over Katy, Stratford advances to the regional quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

vs. Katy Tompkins

1-April-2022

(Write-up pulled from the Houston Chronicle. To view the article in its entirety visit Girls soccer: Stratford Lady Spartans advance to the regional tournament for first time in nine years (houstonchronicle.com)

On Friday our Stratford Lady Spartans hosted Tomkins for the regional quarterfinals at Tully Stadium. As to be expected, it was a hard-fought game from start to finish. The first half saw two impressive goals by Lauren Ahern.

Stratford got on the board first when, in the 16th minute Ahearn put the ball into the bottom right corner of the net from 27 yards out. Ahearn added a second goal 11 minutes later off a header from a throw-in from Ballard.

The hard fight continued throughout the second half. With 17 minutes left in the game, a pass by Ryann Weber to Toner extended Stratford’s lead. With three minutes left in the game, Tompkins attacked and got the ball right in front of the Stratford goal and had two scoring opportunities. The first was a close-range shot that was blocked by goalie Zilafro. The second was directed out of bounds just to the left of the goal by the defense. Despite continued effort by Tompkins, it was not enough to get by Stratford’s defensive line – Stevenson, Annika De Jager, and Allison Goodwin – and goal keeper Zilafro.

With Stratford’s 3-1 victory over Tompkins, the Lady Spartans advances to the regional tournament. The Spartans will face Beaumont Westbrook on April 8th @ 2:30pm @ Abshier Stadium in Deer Park.