Girls Water Polo v Spring Woods 9/21

It was Senior Night last Wednesday at the WW Emmons natatorium. Honored were co-captains Caroline Smith and Ashley Cooper, Ashley Cardin, Gwendolyn Beach and team manager Payton Kooyman.

The Spartans were on fire making 3 goals in the first two minutes: Gwen Beach to junior Lily Askounis, Ashley Cooper on her own rebound, and sophomore Hana Riley to Askounis. Freshman Elizabeth Conner joined Smith near the goalbox for a spectacular two-person block and sophomore Sarah Beth Roady found the sweet spot scoring from 5 meters. Junior Lindsay Wong contributed forced turnovers and steals. Emma Jackson continued her game-changing ways with multiple steals and forced turnovers throughout the game. The scoring cooled the second half, but the action remained hot – freshman Lilli Oteiza won the swim-off, Ashley Cardin played tough on both ends with exciting shots on goal. Junior Caroline Steranko and freshman Molly Kate Minyard showed grit on offense with strong, fierce play. Caroline Smith turned the goal over to her freshman sister Bella Smith and joined the field, contributing convincing defense and playmaking. Steals are credited to Oteiza, Caroline Smith, Jackson, Avery Garcia, Cooper, Conner, Cardin, Beach, and Wong. Assists from Garcia, Conner, Askounis, Roady, Jackson, Cooper, and Beachled to scoring from Cooper (3), Beach (2), Conner, Roady, and Askounis (5). Freshman Emmie Hanvey made multiple monster saves in goal. Final: Stratford 12 Spring Woods 3

Girls Water Polo v Memorial 9/23

Just two days later, Stratford faced off against Memorial for the game of the season and the district title in play at WW Emmons natatorium. It was an exciting first period with junior Emma Jackson winning the swim-off; a sophomore Avery Garcia pass to junior Lily Askounis resulted in Stratford’s first goal. Jackson continued to force multiple Mustang turnovers; a senior Gwendolyn Beach steal and pass led to a nice inside goal from senior co-captain Ashley Cooper. Senior co-captain goalie Caroline Smith made a massive fingertip save ending the first quarter tied 2-2. The second period saw great defense from Jackson, Cooper, freshman Elizabeth Conner, and incredible body-stretching saves from Smith. It was a 3-3 game at the end of the third period with strong defense coming from Garcia, soph Hana Riley, and Askounis; the sole goal was on a power shot from well past five meters from Emma Jackson. The Spartan girls gave it everything they had in the fourth starting with senior Ashley Cardin’s winning the swim-off and making the quarter’s only goal at 3:45 on a well-placed outside shot. Smith fended off multiple Memorial shots on goal. Exceptional, aggressive defense by Beach and Avery Garcia forced turnovers and interceptions to keep the ball in Spartan hands. Tensions were high as the clock counted down and Stratford led by one, 4-3. With seconds to go in the game, Memorial scored and forced overtime. 4-4 end of regulation.

OT is two 3:00 halves. The high emotion continued in the first OT half with Conner, Sarah Beth Roady, Jackson, Riley, Askounis, and Cooper taking the field. Jackson continued her excellent defense with multiple steals, Roady helped retain possession. Caroline Smith protected the goal fearlessly with save after save. With about a minute remaining in the half, Ashley Cooper created an opening for herself and shot from well past 5 meters to put the Spartans up 5-4. With seconds on the clock, a Hail Mary from half court tied up the game at the buzzer 5-5.

Second half OT saw repeated possession changes, the Spartans playing tough defense in difficult conditions. Memorial scored at the 2:30 mark, plenty of time for Stratford to regroup and regain advantage. Controversial and controverted play in the last minute resulted in a deeply disappointing and abrupt end to the game.

Final/OT: Stratford 5 Memorial 6 The Spartan girls played a game to be proud of.