SHS vs. Angleton on 1/19/24

The JV Girls had their last pre-season game at home on Friday, January 19 against Angleton High School. It was a chilly night, but Stratford started off hot with great ball movement between Maddie Verrett, Ella Bui, and Elizabeth Byrd. Bui moved quickly around the AHS defender and shot from 20 yards out for our first goal on the board. SHS 1 - AHS 0

Shortly thereafter, Morgan Long intercepted a pass from Angleton and played a nice ball to Trysta Truong, who played a through ball to Nicole Abbey. Abbey made a fast break, but it was saved by their goalkeeper. At 27:52, AHS had their first bit of attack with a corner kick. Byrd made a clean header to clear the ball. A minute later,  Angleton got a free kick. Stratford saw great volley clearance from Lily Terveen to Kaija Sola’s feet. Sola turned with a good pass to Verrett, who sent a through ball to Byrd that went just out of bounds. At 21:38, Sola used her speed and feistiness to get into a tackle where she spun around 360° before beating the defender and took a shot that went just wide. With 20 minutes left in the first half, AHS sent a through ball that our goalie Sofia Schulz came out and cleared nicely to Sola’s feet. She played the ball back to Terveen, who passed to Sola onto Truong, who took it all the way, for a one-on-one that she slid in past the goalie for a goal. SHS 2 - AHS 0

A nice throw-in from Long reached Verrett, who laid it back to Bui, who took a shot from 25 yards out, but it was saved by the goalie. At 18:13, Sola used her quickness again to beat a couple of defenders before getting into a one-on-one with the goalie. Sola laid it in nicely, but this time the goalie was able to get a hand on it to make a save, giving us a corner. Bui took a beautiful corner that sailed over the goalie’s head where it hit off of Truong and Sola finished it for a goal, making the score SHS 3 - AHS 0.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the ball started in the back with a good give-and-go from Claire Lamon to Schulz. Lamon passed to Sola, who laid it back to Bui, who played a through ball to Isabella Saavedra. Saavedra outran the defense and was able to slide this one past the goalie to score. SHS 4 - AHS 0

At 10:45, SHS had a nice attack by getting the ball to Lola Pooler, who played a through ball to Sola. She tried to cross the ball, but it sailed just out of bounds. We started another attack from the back when Katherine Fowler played a ball to Terveen onto Lamon, who made a nice ball switch to Byrd. Byrd sent a through ball to Pooler, but the defense was able to clear it out. In the last 5 minutes of the half, we switched the field via Lamon to Shulz to Terveen, who played it out to Fowler. She made a nice move to keep the ball in bounds, and then passed it back to Terveen, who laid the ball in the center to Truong. Truong had a nice turn and a great through ball to Saavedra, who beat all the defenders to score another goal. SHS 5 - AHS 0.

At 2:36 on the clock, SHS made another push to attack. Truong won the ball in the midfield, and laid it back to Fowler, who had a great through ball to Saavedra, who once again drove past the defenders, but their goalie was able to get a hand on this one. Just seconds later, we had almost the exact same play, where Fowler sent the ball to Saavedra. This time, she was able to sneak it past the goalkeeper for our last goal in the first half. SHS 6 - AHS 0.

Angleton looked to start off the second half strong with an attack moving through our defense. Our goalkeeper Sarah Fadhli came running out and cleared it to Sylvia Castaneda. She settled it and sent a great through ball to Verrett, who beat her defender for a one-on-one chance which she finished for a goal. SHS 7 - AHS 0

At 27 minutes on the clock, Stratford moved to a keep-away type game with a lot of great passing between all the girls. Finally at 18:38, we broke through the defense with a great through ball to Verrett for a one-on-one finish to make the score SHS 8 - AHS 0.

A clearance was made by Meredith Cunningham to Bui, who played the ball out wide to Truong. Truong played a nice through ball to Sola. AHS tried to stop it, but Sola took it off her foot on a fast break, which she finished to change the scoreboard to SHS 9 - AHS 0.

At 12:55, Angleton finally got a shot off, but Fadhli made a great catch to stop the attack. A minute later, Angleton was able to take another really hard shot, but it sailed wide to the left. Great passing and ball movement by the Lady Spartans allowed them to maintain possession of the ball in the last 10 minutes of the game. A solid defense by Long, Lamon, Maddison Gallerano, Amrylin Duhon, and Fowler kept Angleton from getting in a goal, making the final score SHS 9 - AHS 0.

Stratford Girls Soccer District games begin this week. On Tuesday, January 23, SHS plays Cy Fair at Pridgeon Stadium at 5:30 pm and on Friday, January 26, SHS plays Cy Creek at home at 5:30 pm. Come cheer on the Lady Spartans!