Stratford vs. Fort Bend Elkins Knights – Tuesday, March 28th – Playoff Game #2

Your Varsity Girls Soccer Team rolled into round two of the playoffs after a dominating performance in the Bi-District Round vs. Westside High School. From here on out though, every game should be getting more and more difficult.

On a crisp and cool Tuesday evening, the Lady Spartans would battle the Knights from Fort Bend Elkins High School (11-2-3, District Runner-Up) in the Area Round of the 2023 Region III-6A playoffs. It was great to see the stands filling up before game time with students, friends, and families to show their support for Stratford -- and it wouldn’t take long to give the crowd something to cheer for. Just seven minutes into the game, Sophomore Hannah Ryan would dribble up the left side and send a pass up the sideline to Senior Lauren Ahearn, who would then take on two defenders and slide one past the goalie near the far post to get the Spartans on the board, 1-0. At the 16-minute mark, Senior Kristin Geczik would spot Sophomore Allison Goodwin on the run and place a perfect lead pass up the field, where Goodwin would catch it in stride, running past the last defender and take the goalie one-on-one… blistering one in the top left corner to extend the SHS lead to 2-0. At this point in the game, it had been all Stratford as the Elkins offense had no chance to move the ball against the Spartan defense. With 10 minutes to go in the first half, Sophomore Ryann Weber made a great move on the Knights Outside Back to get past her and streak up the right sideline. From the right corner, Weber spotted Ahearn in front of the goal and sent the ball her direction, where Ahearn pivoted with the ball and made one move, which was a laser in the back of the net to take the Lady Spartans to halftime with a 3-0 lead in a very exciting post-season game.

Stratford would pick up right where they left off as the second half was getting underway. At 48’, Ahearn would put a move on an Elkins player that would put the defender on her back. With one opponent out of the way, there was only one Elkins player between Ahearn and the goalie and surely she could get past her, but the experienced Senior Captain saw Freshman Sydney Valentine streaking up the right side, so Ahearn held the ball just long enough to draw the last of the defense to her before sliding it over to Valentine, who took her time, wound up, and blasted a shot deep in the left corner of the goal to stretch the gap to 4-0. The Spartans continued to control the time of possession for the remainder of the game and only allowed one shot on goal over 80 minutes. As the game was winding down, you could feel the crowd getting more and more excited about moving onto the next round, but before the game was over, the Lady Spartans would give that crowd one more reason to cheer them on. At 71’, Sophomore Whitney Bui would take a throw-in from the right sideline and have it passed back to her. Bui would spot two Spartans near the goal and sail a perfect ball towards the near post, where Weber was waiting to put a textbook header on the ball and never give the goalie a chance to stop the fifth and final goal of the night.

With this victory, the Spartans take the Area Round and move on to the Regional Quarterfinals, where they meet the Katy Tompkins High School Falcons at Tully Stadium.

Stratford vs Katy Tompkins High School – Friday, March 31st – Playoff Game #3

Your Varsity Girls Soccer team faced off with the Lady Falcons from Tompkins High School (13-1-2, District Runner-Up) on Friday night in the Regional Quarterfinals. There was a sea of green cheering on the Spartans as the match began under the lights of Tully Stadium. From the first whistle, there was lots of aggression from both teams, but the early edge went to Stratford. At the 5-minute mark, SHS earned a corner kick that was taken by Sophomore Mary Paul. Paul put a great kick on the ball, but the Falcons' goalie was able to outjump the offense and high-point the ball before anyone else. The first 15 minutes of the game would define how the night would go, as it was proving to be a battle on both sides of the field. At the 16-minute mark, Paul would be fouled on the Tompkins end of the field, and SHS would be awarded a free kick from 35 yards out and taken by Senior Kristin Geczik. Geczik’s shot would sail a little too far right though, but Stratford would have several more opportunities in the next 10 minutes of play. Over the span of three minutes, the Spartans would earn three corner kicks, with the third one finally paying off for them. At 25’, Sophomore Whitney Bui would initially line up for a quick corner, but then took her time and let the offense get set. As Bui sent the ball to the Tompkins goal, Senior Lauren Ahearn would make a quick move near the far post, timing her jump perfectly to connect on a flawless header that would redirect the ball right into the back of the net. Cheers went up from the crowd as all the players ran over to congratulate and celebrate Ahearn and Bui. With 15 minutes to play until halftime, the Spartans drew first blood, 1-0 – which is where the score would stand as the first half ended.

Stratford, who defeated Westside 9-0 and Elkins 5-0 to start the playoffs, spent much of the first half of this game on Tompkins' end of the field, producing multiple shots before Ahearn broke the deadlock. Additionally, the Spartans yielded few scoring opportunities throughout the entire game, as Tompkins did not have an open look until the Lady Falcons fired one just wide of the post in the 29th minute. The Stratford line of Ellie Stephenson, Annika DeJager, Hannah Ryan, and Whitney Bui limited offensive opportunities throughout the match for Tompkins.

As the second half got underway, it was going to come down to who wanted it more. Stratford took nine corner kicks during the match and put 14 shots on goal. Additionally, three Tompkins players would exit the game from exhaustion or injury during the final 40 minutes. With less than 20 seconds to play in the Regional Quarterfinal, the Lady Falcons would take a throw-in from the Spartan end of the field that would find its way near the SHS goal. Suddenly, a potential game-tying ball was pinballing in front of the net. It was initially blocked out by a Spartan defender, then got knocked back near the goal by a Lady Falcon and was dangerously close to going in until out of nowhere, Junior Lizzie Emerson made one last attempt on the ball and was able to clear it to the left side. The match ended with Senior Goalkeeper Allison Zilafro sprinting into open space to smother the ball, seconds ticking away to seal Stratford's 1-0 victory and fourth consecutive shutout.

The Spartans (18-4-3) advance to their second consecutive Region III-6A tournament, facing Kingwood in the semifinals at 2:30 pm, Friday at Abshier Stadium. The closest calls came in the closing seconds, but Stratford clinched a return trip to Deer Park. This will be the third regional appearance in school history.