Your humble scribe has been derelict in his duties the past two weeks so there is a lot of ground to cover in this write-up. When last we updated you the boys had started district play with a tough 1 goal loss to Memorial. They next took on defending district champs Strake Jesuit. Both teams came out scoring and Strake held a 5-3 lead at the end of the 1st period. This game continued as a very tight affair throughout the first half with Stratford clawing their way back and Strake eked out a 1 goal lead at intermission at 7-6. Unfortunately Strake’s superior depth wore down the Spartans and the Crusaders ended up with a comfortable 18-9 victory to leave Stratford 0-2 in district.

Following the Strake game, Stratford took on Spring Woods and both teams celebrated Senior Night. Kyle Brown, Parker Kooyman, Wyatt McCulley, Lowell Moss, and Bryce Oliphant, were all recognized for their contributions to the Stratford Water Polo team and the two great state runs that they were an integral part of. In the water that night Stratford came out firing on all cylinders and overwhelmed Spring Woods from the start. Stratford had a commanding 6-0 lead after the first period and would go on to win 22-7 with everyone on the roster getting a lot of playing time. Senior Parker Kooyman led the team in scoring with 7 goals while junior Luke Barber added 4 goals; Austin Chao and Marin Pavlin each found the net twice; and Lowell Moss, Elliot Easton, Nathan Moss, Julian Hemmer, and Wyatt McCulley each had a goal, as did Devon Beals who notched his first Varsity goal. There was one other goal that the scribe did not get recorded This was a great way to honor our terrific Seniors.

Following the Spring Woods game, the boys were back at it against the red rivals from Memorial. Unfortunately, the Spartans turned in what was easily their worst game of the year. The boys came out sluggish and got down very quickly to a Memorial team that was ready to play. The Spartans fell behind 4-0 in the first 3 minutes and were never able to recover. Down 6-1 at the end of the first they never got closer than 3 and ended up losing 12-8.

The Spartans followed up their second tough Memorial loss with a rematch with Strake Jesuit this past Monday. This game started out much differently than the first contest with the teams locked into a defensive battle that would see Strake hold a hard fought 3-2 lead at half time. Unfortunately in the second half, Strake wore down the Spartans again and were able to coast to an 11-5 victory. The Spartans have played the Crusaders very tough in both matches and will have to find a way to dig deep and solve the riddle of how to beat those guys if they end up colliding again in the State Playoffs.

The Spartans closed out District play this past Friday night with their rematch against Spring Woods. As with the first game the Spartans came out firing on all cylinders and jumped out to an early lead against Spring Woods. Andy Zhuri was stellar in goal and Senior Kyle Brown returned from injury to provide the Spartans with a big spark. All members of the team played a lot of minutes and contributed in a big way, and the Spartans were able to close out district play on a high note with a 17-11 victory. Backup goalie Diego Oliver turned in two solid periods of defense in goal and Parker Kooyman once again led the scoring barrage with 5 goals. Marin Pavlin chipped in 3 goals, while Austin Chao and Kyle Brown each had 2 goals apiece, and Luke Barber, Elliot Easton, Lucas Story, Lowell Moss, and his brother Nathan Moss chipped in 1 goal apiece.

The Spartans finished in 3rd place in district and will now head into the Bi-District round of the playoffs to take on one of the Cy Fair schools. Despite the ups and downs, the Spartans are still favorites to make a deep run in the playoffs and are hoping another trip to State Tournament is in the cards.