Week of February 12

Varsity Boys Soccer continued their run at playoffs this week with two matches. Jersey Village came to our home field Tuesday and the Spartans travelled to Cy Fair on Friday.

2.13.24 Varsity Boys Stratford vs. Jersey Village

The Spartans were hungry for another win last week, after a win against Cy Ridge and a close one against Memorial. But the Jersey Village Falcons were not going to give away anything easily. The Falcons came out tough, and the first several minutes were very frustrating for the Spartans, just not being able to put anything together.

Jersey Village got on the board when their forward dribbled right through the middle for an easy shot on goal to make it 0-1. Stratford rebounded a bit and created some scoring chances.

Everett Dwyer almost evened it up when he took an incoming pass for a header that went just wide right. Just a few minutes later, Jasper Hartman blasted a shot from long, but it went just over the cross bar. Jersey Village came attacking again, but Spartan keeper Davis Cooper blocked a hard shot over the cross bar. Just before halftime, Ollie Burdick had a scoring opportunity when he took a shot from the middle on target but into the hands of the keeper.

Halftime 0-1

In the second half, things started to get really sloppy with several yellow cards on both teams. Cooper recorded a few more great saves, with one being a 1 v 1 with a Falcons forward. About midway through the second, the Falcons improved their lead on a ball that the Spartans just couldn’t clear: an easy goal to go up 0-2. Stratford managed to put themselves in scoring distance a few more times in the second half, including shots by Burdick and Dwyer. And though Cooper continued to make some great saves to keep the Spartans in the game, a hand ball in the box resulted in a PK and goal for the Falcons to go up 0-3.

Unfortunately, there were too many opportunities lost tonight and too much ground near the box given away for the Spartans to come out on top.

0-3 Final

* Submitted by Brian Waguespack

2.16.24 Varsity Boys Stratford vs. Cy Fair

Coming off a disappointing loss to end the first round of District play in what was arguably our most poorly played game of the season, and with a thin roster due to a slate of injured Spartans, Coach Rodgers mixed things up, changing to a new formation in an effort to better utilize our available players and provide a spark. The Spartans came out strong, creating several offensive opportunities in the early minutes of the game. The Spartans converted 8 minutes into the game on a pass from right defender Jonathan Lumpkin up to forward Everett Dwyer, who made a nifty move and crossed the ball in front of the goal, causing a hand ball in the box by the Cy Fair defender. Dwyer capitalized on the penalty kick, sending the ball into the lower right corner for a 1-0 Stratford lead. The formation shift with two defenders deep combined with a Cy Fair strategy of the long ball over the top created a number of potential scoring opportunities for Cy Fair, one of which occurred 2 minutes after the Stratford goal, with goalkeeper Davis Cooper rushing out of the goal to make a diving grab 15 yards in front of the goal. Not long after, a Cy Fair player rocketed an impressive bicycle kick on goal that Cooper was able to save. Stratford countered after the save, and a Cy Fair foul gave Stratford a free kick from 40 yards out. Jasper Hartman floated a free kick from the right side in front of the goal, which Cy Fair managed to punch out to the left side. However, Dawson Burgett was in position to control the ball and send it back in front of the goal, where Ollie Burdick received the ball, made a nifty move around a defender, and sent the ball into the left side of the net for a 2-0 Stratford lead just 12 minutes into the game.

Just when it looked like Stratford might be on its way to a dominating win, Cy Fair cut the lead to 2-1 as they headed a free kick into the net 16 minutes into the game. The remainder of the first half saw a great save by Cooper with 15 minutes remaining on a ball fired hard at the goal and a nice run at a goal on a hard shot by Dwyer, which the Cy Fair goalkeeper was able to deflect and Jose Mena missing the rebound shot just high.

The second half was less eventful but intense. Cy Fair tied the game 2-2 15 minutes into the half on a long ball over the top that the Stratford defenders were unable to clear and our goalkeeper could not corral. Suddenly, what looked like a potentially dominant victory was knotted up, with both teams in need of a win to better position themselves for a playoff spot as the second round of District began. Stratford, despite lacking fresh legs with only a couple of subs available, was not deterred, as Hartman floated a free kick just one minute later in front of the goal that Stratford got a head on but just missed the goal. With 19 minutes remaining, Burgett floated a corner kick from the right side, which Fabu Ndayishimye headed hard at the CyFair goal only for it to be saved by their goalkeeper. With just 13 minutes left on a nearly identical play, Ndayishimye was able to head Burgett’s corner kick into the net, sending the Spartan faithful into a frenzy with a 3-2 Spartan lead late. The remaining 13 minutes were intense with Cy Fair desperately seeking to equalize the score and the Spartans working to run out the clock. The Spartans held, securing the 3-2 victory for a near “must have” win in their quest to make the playoffs.

* Submitted by Mark Lumpkin