Girls Varsity Water Polo v St Agnes 9/26 @ WW Emmons

Always a tip of the hat to the Tigers of St Agnes, one of the region’s top teams brings out great play in our Spartans. Two days after a stellar performance against the St Agnes JV, freshman Elizabeth Conner started last Monday for the Varsity team and got the scoring rolling by swimming the ball in for a short-shot goal in the first quarter. Smart ball movement and tough defense came from seniors Gwendolyn Beach and co-captain Ashley Cooper, juniors Lily Askounis and Emma Jackson and sophomores Sarah Beth Roady and Hana Riley. A couple massive saves and exceptional goalkeeping from senior co-captain Caroline Smith kept the score 1 -2 end of the first. More outstanding goalie moves from Smith in the second along with an uber-athletic half-court shot from Gwen Beach, and tough D from soph Avery Garcia and Conner. St Agnes up 4-2 at the half.

Third period opened with junior Lindsay Wong winning the swim-off; scoring cooled for the Spartans but the Tigers popped in two more. Efforts across the board from freshman Molly Kate Minyard and senior Ashley Cardin. Score: 2-6 at the end of three. Things picked up again in the final period with Askounis scoring on a Jackson assist and Cooper tallying one with a buzzer beater from 5 meters. Smith stayed tough in the goalbox holding St Agnes to just one goal in the fourth. Final: Stratford 4, St. Agnes 7

v Spring Woods 9/30 @ WW Emmons

It was the last district game of the season as the Girls Water Polo Team took to the pool at WW Emmons Friday against Spring Woods, the Tigers in their inaugural year as a girls water polo team. Stratford Coach Maggie Albers featured the depth of the young Spartan team as they went up against the rookie Tigers. Scoring came quick and easy with first quarter goals coming from senior co-captain Ashley Cooper, junior Lily Askounis (x 2), freshman Elizabeth Conner, and first-goal-of-the-season for fresh Molly Kate Minyard. Assists are credited to junior Emma Jackson (x 2), senior Gwendolyn Beach, senior co-captain Caroline Smith and sophomore Sarah Beth Roady. Roady continued the heads-up play in the second dishing off to Emma Jackson for a goal and then passing to Caroline Smith for a point – Smith’s first goal of the season as she’s usually in the cage. A strong offensive series of shots and rebounds by sophomore Avery Garcia and freshmen Leah Claire Nall and Lilli Oteiza resulted in a goal by Lily Askounis. More hustle and steals from junior Lindsay Wong, Garcia, and Otezia, and a Garcia assist to soph Hana Riley for a goal. First half score: 9-0. Freshman Bella Smith in the goalbox the entire half had 8 saves.

Third quarter dawned with Emma Jackson winning the swim-off and converting that possession into a scoring opportunity: senior Ashley Cardin popped in a nice inside goal with an assist from Jackson. Freshman Emmie Hanvey took goal-tending duty the second half, and within minutes already had three major saves in goal, and 8 overall. Cardin scored again on a nice pass from Gwen Beach, and then Ashley Cooper fed it to Elizabeth Conner for an easy inside goal. Junior Caroline Steranko played tough inside as Nall and Roady showed off great teamwork: Roady getting credit for the goal off a LC Nall rebound shot. Oteiza demonstrated exceptional ballhandling with her sweet turn-and-burn move. A lob pass from Cooper made a super smooth fingertip goal by Askounis. Toward the end of the 3rd, a monster block by Jackson created a turnover that ended in a beautiful 5-meter shot for the goal from Gwen Beach. The fourth quarter started with a 4-meter goal by Oteiza quickly answered with a Tiger goal, 16-1. Tough defense came from Lindsay Wong, Minyard, Roady, and Conner. Practically everyone touched the ball before it landed with LC Nall, who dropped it in for her first goal of the season. Late in the fourth, twice Conner intercepted the ball to get it down field for an Oteiza-to-Minyard goal and a Conner-to-Roady goal. Final score: Stratford 19 Spring Woods 1

The 2nd in District Spartan girls are now on to single elimination post-season play starting at Lamar HS on Tuesday, October 11. Time TBD Go Big Green!