STRATFORD GIRLS SOCCER  PRE-SEASON

vs. Cy Ranch – 12.12.23

Your Varsity Girls Soccer Team hosted the 18th ranked Region 2 Cy Ranch Mustangs on Tuesday, December 12th in their second pre-season match of the 2023-2024 season. The crowd was still getting settled in their seats, when Cy Ranch took the ball up the left side near the far corner and rather than looking to make a pass inside… the Mustang forward decided to take a low percentage shot, and somehow was able to find the inside of the back post and put SHS in a 1-0 hole in the opening minutes. With that said, our girls quickly settled down and focused on playing together as a team. Coming off a Stratford corner kick from the left side, the ball was cleared out to the mid-field where Junior Hannah Ryan found Junior Whitney Bui on a run up the right side. Bui made a quick pass to Junior Ryann Weber in the corner, who quickly gave the ball up to Junior Allison Goodwin, who was streaking toward the goal and hit a rocket shot into the back left corner of the net to even things up at 1-1 in the 7th minute.

At the 12-minute mark, the crowd got to witness great teamwork again. Freshman Audrey Brendel made a run up the left side, dribbling past two defenders into Mustang territory and found Sophomore Sydney Valentine in the middle, who quickly gave the ball up to Sophomore Avery Rushing, sprinting up the left sideline. Rushing had a shot opportunity, but spotted Allison Goodwin in front of the goal and gave her a great pass, which she flicked past the goalie who was falling to her knees. And just like that, the early deficit had been erased. Not too long after this, the Spartans earned a corner at the 16-minute mark, which was taken by Junior Captain Mary Paul. Paul lined up for the kick and spotted Bui running from her outside back position toward the goal and put a great low ball right out in front of Bui, who sent a lofted shot toward the goal, which was headed through the keeper’s gloves, but unfortunately was wiped out by an offsides call. The Lady Spartans would get another chance to increase the lead shortly thereafter at the 20-minute mark. On a ball lost out of bounds, SHS would have a corner kick from the left side taken by Paul, who once again would find a teammate in Sophomore Sara Benton, unguarded just outside the penalty box. Benton would absolutely smoke a shot from distance to the far-right post over the fingertips of the leaping Cy Ranch goalie to increase the lead to 3-1. Over the final 15 minutes of the first half, SHS would take three more shots and two more corners, but none would find their mark and the Spartans took a two-goal lead to halftime.

The first 20 minutes of the second half the Spartans continued to dominate time of possession on the Mustang end of the field and then at the 67-minute mark, Paul would drive up the right sideline and from the right corner, center a perfect ball in front of the goal,  where Rushing would execute a flawless header inside the left post to give the Spartans their fourth goal of the night and go up 4-1. Cy Ranch wasn’t done though – after the ensuing kickoff, they would drive up the left side and take a long shot, which was punched away by the Spartan goalie (unluckily) into a charging Mustang who put it in the back of the SHS net. The Spartans would be the recipients of another unlucky goal with a few minutes remaining in the game on a huge deflection off a Cy Ranch player’s shin-guard 30 yards back into the Stratford goal. The Lady Spartans would hold on to take the win in their second scrimmage -- in what was not as close as the final score showed -- a 4-3 victory.

vs. Tomball – 12.15.23

On Friday night, the Lady Spartans traveled to Tomball High School to take on the 20th ranked Region 2 Cougars in pre-season game #3. The original 7:15 pm game time was re-scheduled for two hours earlier than planned to miss a huge rainstorm, however - Mother Nature had other plans. As the whistle blew to put the ball in play, there were already huge puddles forming on the edge of the playing field and the track circling it.

In the 7th minute, Tomball was awarded a free kick outside the box that was played past the defense for a free look from an unmarked forward, who finished in the top left corner out of the SHS goalie’s reach, to give Tomball a 1-0 lead. As the rain continued to come down harder and harder, the Lady Cougars were able to break through the Stratford defense and take a low shot that was batted away by the goalie, but in the tough conditions couldn’t be secured and the offense was able to sneak one inside the right post to give Tomball a two-shot lead.

The Lady Spartans would re-group after this and start to take back the time of possession. At the 26-minute mark, Junior Allison Goodwin would fire a shot from the top of the box just over the right side of the crossbar. Soon after, Freshman Zoe Lawless would take a penalty kick from just inside midfield, but the Cougar goalie was able to snag a hard shot from distance. As the first half was wrapping up, Junior Ryann Weber had a shot deflected by the goalie that would earn a corner kick. Junior Sara Benton would take the kick and send it near the far post where Freshman Natalie Goodwin headed the ball just over the crossbar.

As the second half got underway, the Spartans got a small reprieve from the rain and started to show why they are ranked so high in the Region. Sophomore Sydney Valentine made a run up the right side in the 42nd minute, laying the ball off to Sophomore Avery Rushing in front of the goal. The ball deflected off a defender before the Tomball GK made a diving save against the post. At the 54-minute mark, a penalty was called on the Lady Cougars just outside the penalty box and was taken by Junior Mary Paul, whose shot sailed just outside the left post. As time was ticking down in the final minutes of the game, the Spartans were dominating play, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. That was until a ball was cleared upfield by Paul at the 72nd minute to Valentine, who was one-on-one with the goalie but pulled down from behind in the box before she could get a shot off. Paul would take the penalty shot for the Spartans and put it in the top right corner outside of the goalie’s reach to get within one goal at 2-1. At this point in the game, it would be hard to pull the match even, but the Lady Spartans would not quit. With less than 30 seconds to play, Allison Goodwin would play a ball wide to Valentine, who would make a run up the right sideline before cutting to the center of the field, beating two different defenders and firing on goal, netting the equalizer in the final seconds of the match. In a game that had a slow start in an absolute monsoon, the “never say die” attitude of the Spartans showed through to finish in a 2-2 tie.

The biggest takeaway from the end of this day, game, and calendar year is that the Spartans are never going to back down from a challenge. See you in 2024.