Stratford vs. Northbrook High School - 01.31.24

On Wednesday January 31, 2024, your Varsity Girls Soccer Team continued District play on the road versus a much improved Northbrook High School team. The match would get underway in the best weather/game conditions that the Spartans had competed in the last few weeks. Stratford controlled possession right from the opening whistle, and just two minutes into the match, Sophomore Sydney Valentine would make a run up the left side and find Sophomore Avery Rushing all alone at the top of the box. Rushing fired a left-footed shot just inside the left post that was deflected at the last second by the Raider goalie, denying the first of many attempts that the green & white would get off over the next 80 minutes. The Spartan faithful wouldn’t have to wait too much longer to have something to cheer for as Freshman Natalie Goodwin would put a powerful header on a NHS throw-in during the 5th minute that sent the ball back to the center of the pitch where Valentine quickly picked up the dribble, left her defender in the rear view mirror, and beat the goalie one-on-one with a quick shot to the far post that put SHS on the board, 1-0. A short time later at the 9-minute mark, it was Goodwin again, who this time intercepted a Raider pass deep in the Northbrook end of the field and found Junior Mary Paul at the top of the penalty box with a quick pass that set up Paul to take two quick touches and fire deep in the left corner of the goal to give SHS a 2-0 lead. At the 10-minute mark, Northbrook would send a ball deep into SHS territory on the right side where a Raider player initiated contact near the ball and then fell to the ground hoping for a whistle (which they got), resulting in a penalty kick. Junior Goalkeeper Olivia Harbison was up for the test and guessed correctly on the kick, but the ball just deflected off of her foot on the left side and found its way into the net, reducing the Spartan lead to 2-1. Over the remaining 30 minutes of the first half, SHS would continue to control possession and keep the ball in the offensive zone, but they just couldn't convert any of the opportunities they created, including a shot in the 30th minute by Junior Whitney Bui from the left side that hit the inside of the far post and then ricocheted to the inside of the left post, defying physics and somehow did not go into the goal. Even with that extremely unlucky situation - continued pressure from the offense started to convert in the second half and would eventually extend the one-goal lead.

As the second half was getting underway and at the 48th minute, Junior Ryann Weber stole the ball at midfield and worked through defenders to find Freshman Sophia Beviacqua on the run in Raider territory. Beviacqua worked past one defender, then sent a pass to the middle of the field perfectly splitting both centerbacks, where Valentine took one quick touch and fired into the back of the net, leaving the goalie flat-footed. This third goal (3-1) gave the Lady Spartans a little breathing room and not long after that they would have a chance to increase that lead even more. In the 51st minute, Rushing would be fouled on a throw-in from Goodwin on the right sideline in Raider territory. Paul would take the kick that was at least 30 yards out and draw it from left to right, so that it just curved inside the near post to give SHS a 4-1 lead. At the 55-minute mark, Stratford would earn a corner kick from the left side that would be taken by Paul. Paul would spot Freshman Audrey Brendel unmarked in the middle of the field and send a quick pass to the underclassman. Brendel took one quick touch and fired a perfect ball just under the crossbar out of the reach of the outstretched gloves of the Raider goalie to extend the lead to 5-1. At this point, the SHS offense was on fire, and just a minute later (56’), Brendel would send a pass up the right sideline to Goodwin, who outran her defender and quickly centered the ball to Weber, who took a left-footed shot for her second goal of the night and the sixth for the green & white (6-1). After this goal, most of the remaining Spartan players got to see minutes as the match was winding down and included a few more close shots just missing their mark. Northbrook would get one more goal in the final five minutes as a foul was called just outside the box and the free kick found its way into the goal to change the scoreboard one last time,  in what would be the final score of 6-2. This win takes the Lady Spartans to 8-1-3 overall and 3-0 in District play.

Stratford vs. Spring Woods High School - 02.03.24

On Saturday February 3, 2024, the Lady Spartans were back on their home turf to face the Spring Woods High School Tigers in a rare daytime game. With the sun shining bright, SHS went on the attack from the opening seconds. Sophomore Sydney Valentine stole the opening possession from SWHS and dribbled down to the end line where the ball was deflected out of bounds,  and the Spartans earned their first corner kick - 15 seconds into the match. The opening corner was taken by Sophomore Sara Benton, who played a short pass to unmarked Junior Whitney Bui. Bui sent a lofted pass across the front of the goal to Junior Mary Paul, who connected with the ball in mid-air and sent it to the inside left post to put the Spartans up 1-0. In the third minute of play, Paul sent a pass up the left sideline to Valentine, who dribbled down close to the goal and at the last moment, slid a pass to her right side where Junior Allison Goodwin was running in stride. Goodwin took one touch and fired left side to increase the lead to 2-0. Ten seconds after play resumed from the previous scoring play, Junior Ryann Weber stole the ball on the Tiger end of the field and sent the ball towards the Tiger goal, where Valentine slowed the ball down and gave it back to Weber, who beat the last defender and fired a left-footed shot to the inside right post to notch a third goal for SHS with less than four minutes expired in the match. A short time later in the 7th minute, Paul played a ball up the middle of the field where Weber was already on the run. Weber caught the pass in stride, beat the three remaining defenders, and fired one past the flat-footed goalie to record her second goal and the fourth for the green and white. At this point in the game, where Stratford had dominated every aspect of the match – Coach Walters removed a player from the pitch and played 10 v 11 for the rest of the half. In the 10th minute, Senior Alley Evetts would enter the game, coming off an injury and seeing her first minutes as a Varsity player. Over the next 20 minutes, the Spartans would sub a handful of players into the game and concentrate on nice crisp passes throughout the field. In the 30th minute, Freshman Juliana Molinas would send a pass upfield, splitting the backline of Spring Woods, and catch Sophomore Avery Rushing sprinting toward the goal, where she would beat the Tiger goalie and find the back of the net, taking the score to 5-0. The Spartans would then remove another player from the field and play two down, 9 v 11, for the remaining 10 minutes of the half.

The second half would start the same way the first half ended in 9 v 11 play for the first eight minutes, until Weber made a long run up the right side almost to the end line, and then made a last-second pass across the front of the goal to Goodwin, who effortlessly beat the goalie to extend the lead to 6-0. In the 56th minute, Freshman Audrey Brendel spotted Weber up the middle and sent a long pass downfield that Weber picked up in stride with two defenders in pursuit. As she approached the goal, Weber slammed on the brakes and both defenders flew by her, leaving her a wide-open shot that put Stratford up 7-0 and had her completing a hat trick on the day – congrats Ryann! At this point in the match, Coach Walters mixed things up by emptying the bench and having defense play offense and vice a versa. Freshman Zoe Lawless and Junior Hannah Ryan would get their first minutes of the season on the opposite end of the field than they are used to playing. At the 60-minute mark, Lawless sent a pass upfield to a sprinting Molinas, who outran the last defender and got to the ball a split second before the goalie could get a glove on it to make the score 8-0. Then in the 64th minute, Junior Hannah Haygood sent a pass to the middle of the field, where Ryan would take one touch and fire a left-footed shot from outside the box to the right post for her first goal of the year and the ninth & final goal for the Spartans on the day.

This win takes your Varsity Girls Soccer Team to 9-1-3 overall and 4-0 in District play. The Spartans travel to Cy Ridge High School on Tuesday, February 6th and then are back at home for District rival Memorial High School (ranked 3rd in 6A-Region 3) on Friday, February 9th. Be sure to be there and be loud on Friday to show the Mustangs why SHS is the best in Houston.