The Woodlands Elite Showcase – January 4th-6th

Game #1 – Stratford vs. Houston Episcopal High School

On Thursday, January 4th your Spartan Girls Soccer Team traveled to the Woodlands for the first of three matches in The Woodlands Elite Showcase. There were high schools from as far as central and north Texas, with the first opponent being the Houston Episcopal Knights. The Lady Knights are from a private Houston high school filled with players who will continue their soccer careers at the collegiate level … so no easy warm-up game for the green and white. As the match was getting underway, EHS came on strong with a hard shot in the 3rd minute of play that ricocheted off the left post and was then cleared by the Spartan defense. In the ensuing minutes, SHS would strike back with shots by Sophomore Avery Rushing and Sophomore Sydney Valentine, that both just missed their mark. At the 31-minute mark, Episcopal would make a run up the left side and float a perfect pass in front of the Spartan goal to a charging EHS midfielder who headed the ball in the back of the net to put Stratford down one goal late in the first half. The Spartans had a chance before halftime to even the score when Junior Allison Goodwin would take a corner kick from the right side, but it was just snagged by the EHS goalie to leave the Spartans down 1-0.

Roughly 15 minutes into the second half, Valentine would make a run up the left side and fire a hard shot that the Knight goalie would bat away. The Spartans would continue to put pressure on the EHS defense and at the 62-minute mark, Junior Ryann Weber dribbled through traffic in the midfield and found Junior Mary Paul in open space. Paul would perfectly lead a charging Goodwin, who hammered a shot in the top left corner (giving the goalie no chance) to tie the match up at 1-1. The offense continued to control the ball in the second half, and the Spartans would have one more look before time expired when Paul would carve up the defense and take a shot on an open goal, but the ball just caught the crossbar, leaving the game deadlocked. This opening match against a very formidable team would end in a tie and the Spartans would have another chance at victory on Friday.

Game #2 – Stratford vs. Klein Oak Black

On Friday, January 5th, the Spartans traveled back to The Woodlands to meet Klein Oak High School for game 2. In this game and the next, we were missing several starters and knew we would need to play our best to come out on top. Just 3 minutes into play, Junior Ryann Weber received the ball at midfield and gave the ball a quick touch pass to Sophomore Sara Benton, who gave it right back. Weber cut through two defenders and fired a shot just under the crossbar, but the keeper was able to leap up and knock it just over the goal, resulting in a Spartan corner kick. Junior Mary Paul took the corner and sent the kick bouncing to the far post where it was cleared by the defense – but not hard enough, as Weber sent the ball into the back left corner of the goal to give the green and white a 1-0 advantage. SHS would continue to control the ball and game the remainder of the first half, but wouldn’t add any more to the lead before halftime.

At the 56-minute mark, off a throw-in from the right side by Freshman Natalie Goodwin, she found Benton at the top of the box, and she laid the ball off to Weber and got it right back running to the left side. Benton would find herself unmarked and smashed a left-footed shot from outside the 18 over a leaping goalie to increase the lead to 2-0. In the 71st minute, Sophomore Sydney Valentine made a run up the right side and sent a pass to Sophomore Avery Rushing near the goal who fired a high shot, and somehow the goalie pinned the ball to the bottom of the crossbar, denying the goal. However, the duo of Valentine and Rushing would have a second chance just 6 minutes later. This time it was Rushing with the ball up the left side who would find Valentine on the run near the goal. Just as Valentine got inside the penalty box, she simultaneously took a shot and got laid out at the same time, but the kick was too hard and on target for the goalie to defend – putting the Spartans on top 3-0. In the last minute of the match, Klein drove up the left side and took a shot that was deflected by the SHS goalie, but unfortunately it bounced right to a forward who put it back in the net to get Klein on the board. The game would conclude a minute later and the Lady Spartans would close the game out at 3-1.

Game #3 – Stratford vs. Rockwall High School

The Spartans traveled to The Woodlands on Saturday, January 6th, one final time to play their third and last match of the tournament against Rockwall High School. This pitted your #2 ranked 6A-Region 3 Spartans against a tough opponent in the #4 ranked 6A-Region 2 Yellowjacket squad. Still missing a number of starters, your Spartans would need to give 110% until the final whistle. Stratford took the field in their ‘away all whites’, while the Yellowjackets donned orange and black kits.

The Spartans would need to hold their own and get used to playing with new teammates as a number of JV players were called up for this match. At the 21-minute mark, Rockwall found the back of the net just inside the right post to take the lead 1-0. The last 20 minutes of the half there was a lot of competitive play and the score remained the same going into halftime.

In the 65th minute, the Yellowjackets scored off of a deflection on a corner kick to go up 2-0. Not long after this, a very questionable foul call near the penalty box was awarded a free kick to RHS outside the 18 that sailed in the back left corner to go to 3-0. With five minutes to go in the game, a steal near the SHS goal resulted in a final goal for Rockwall to close out the match 4-0. While the score would tell one story, this game was not as one-sided as it would seem. Lots to learn in these pre-season matches.

The Spartan Girls Soccer Team travels to battle Kingwood High School on Tuesday (a rematch from the 2023 Regional Playoffs) and then to Central Texas later in the week for the Georgetown Elite Showcase – on January 11th-13th. They’ll be facing more tough competition in teams from Plano, Round Rock Westwood (#4 in 6A-Region 4), and Dripping Springs (#7 6A-Region 4). Wish them luck when you see them this week!