skip navigation

Varsity Boys Soccer Falls Short to Cy Springs

By Gina Smith, 01/16/23, 10:30PM CST

Share

vs. Cy Springs

Beginning Tuesday night at the Berry Center, Stratford took on Cy Springs, who had won their last five straight games. It was a tough match from the start: Cy Springs offense was on the attack for the first several minutes, with their first shot coming in the first two minutes of play. Cy Springs had several early runs and shots, but Stratford defense stood strong, with numerous great saves by Juan Ugalde. Cy Springs had locked down on possession for most of the first half, but around the 30th minute, Stratford created several scoring opportunities, including a set piece by Yuto Komiya. He took the initial shot, which was blocked by the keeper, but on the deflection, took a follow-up just over the cross bar. With about 5 minutes left in the first half, Yuto made a quick pass to Giancarlo Chelala in the middle, with Chelala shooting right by the keeper to start off the scoring. Stratford 1-0. The lead did not last as less than a minute later, Cy Springs caught us on a fast break to score just before halftime, 1-1.

The second half started with same as the first, with Cy Springs on the attack and stingy with possession. Again, Stratford defense held on and afforded some opportunities for the Spartan offense to score.

At the 50th minute, Fabu Ndayishimiye made a nice long run on the left side to set up a shot by Yuto. The shot was just over the crossbar. Again in the 64th minute, Jacob Smith made an excellent run under heavy pressure and managed to center a pass over to Yuto, whose shot flew just wide right of the goal. Stratford continued to make several strong attempts on goal with resulting shots that just couldn’t find the target, including a nice long pass to the box in the 73rd minute by Zayn Tippitt that was just too much to handle under pressure from defenders. With the clocking ticking down, Cy Springs made a fast-run in which a shot was blocked wide right by the Spartan defense resulting, in a corner with 10 seconds left. The kick was off before our defense could organize and Cy Springs scored a header off the corner and the game-winner with no time left on the clock.

Cy Springs defeated the Spartans 2-1.