Stratford vs. Spring Woods High School – 02.28.24

The Spartans headed just across I-10 to face Spring Woods High School on a chilly and windy night in Houston. From the opening whistle, it was clear that Stratford would have complete control of this match. In the 8th minute, the Spartans would strike first as Mary Charlotte Paul (Junior) would find a sprinting Allison Goodwin (Junior), who beat the keeper near post from distance to give Stratford the opening goal. Less than one minute later, Allison Goodwin running down the near sideline would send a cross over a leaping goalkeeper to find the feet of Sydney Valentine (Sophomore) on the back post, who was able to one-touch the ball into the net against a flat-footed keeper. The scoring parade would continue in the 12th minute when Paul took her space in the middle of the field before playing a pass up to Valentine, who was able to redirect a ball across a congested Spring Woods box to an unmarked Lizzie Emerson (Senior), who patiently beat the keeper far post to make it 3-0 Stratford.

In the 15th minute, Sara Benton (Sophomore) made a run through the midfield beating multiple defenders before playing a fantastic through ball to Ryann Weber (Junior), who was able to beat the oncoming keeper to the ball and finish inside the far post. Just before the halftime whistle, the Stratford attack at the Spring Woods goal led to an opportunistic Weber being in the right place at the right time, tapping in a goal over a keeper laying on the deck to extend the Stratford lead to 5-0 at the half.

As the second half got underway, the Spartans continued to dictate the pace and play of the game. Midway into the second half, Audrey Brendel (Freshman) would take her space down the far sideline from her outside back position and send a cross from near the corner flag to the far side of the box, where Avery Rushing (Sophomore) had a beautiful, one-touch volley finish at the far post to beat a diving Spring Woods keeper. As soon as play resumed, Goodwin stepped into an errant pass from a Spring Woods defender, beating the center back in her way and firing near post to beat the diving keeper to extend the Stratford lead.

In the 72nd minute of the match, Rushing would be fouled in Spring Woods territory adjacent to the Stratford bench and Layla Walker (Senior) would take the free kick. Walker’s free kick from 37 yards out curled at the far post before finding the back of the net. In the final minutes of the match, a motivated Weber would dribble through the Spring Woods defenders and finish near post to earn a hat trick on the evening and give the Spartans another dominant District victory.

The Spartans won 9-0 and remain undefeated in District play with 3 District games left to finish out the 2023-2024 regular season campaign.

*Submitted by Kyle Valentine

Stratford vs. Cy Ridge High School – 03.02.24

The Lady Spartans hosted a rare daytime Saturday home game on March 2nd against the Cy Ridge Rams. This was a special day for the team because they were celebrating their seven seniors – Jenna Dunavin, Lizzie Emerson, Ally Evetts, Kate Michels, Piper Miller, Cassidy Syamken, and Layla Walker. Coach Walters has spent the past four years around these girls and had the following words for this class of 2024:

These games are always bittersweet for me. On one hand, it is a celebration of great accomplishment, sacrifice, and hard work. On the other, it is an end of an era. Kids I’ve spent so much time with are moving onto bigger and better things. I’m so very proud to have been a part of their lives, even if just for a short time. I wish each of the seniors much success and happiness.

After the pre-game ceremony honoring these seven athletes, the Spartans took the field looking to defend their undefeated District record. The match would get underway and at the 15’ minute mark, Junior Mary Charlotte Paul would send a pass across the midfield to Junior Allison Goodwin. Goodwin took one touch and fired unmarked from almost 30 yards out and found a hole just under the crossbar and above the leaping goalie for the first goal of the day, 1-0. From there, the game would slow down a bit with several shots just missing their mark (finding every part of the goal, but the middle) – but with less than 30 seconds to play in the first half, the green & white would earn a corner kick from the left side that was taken by Paul. Paul sent the ball to the far post where it bounced around for three to four seconds before Senior Lizzie Emerson got a foot on it and fired it past the goalie to take the Spartans to halftime up 2-0.

As the second half was getting started, it was apparent that SHS was just warming up and unfortunately for the Rams, they were starting to wear down. Two minutes into the re-start, Junior Ryann Weber found Paul near the left side of the goal, split two defenders, and sent the ball to her feet. Paul took one touch and shot the ball across the front of the goal to the far post for her first goal and the third for SHS. Just four minutes later in the 46th minute, Weber would dribble up the right side, eyeing a clean look, which she found from 20 yards out and lasered a shot in the upper left 90 to increase the lead to 4-0. Three minutes later, Junior Whitney Bui found Paul in the middle of the field, who played a little “give and go” to Goodwin about 20 yards out. With a quick pass from Paul, Goodwin gave it right back to Paul on the run. Paul sprinted right by the remaining defender and shot past the helpless goalie for her second goal of the day. In the 58th minute, Senior Layla Walker stole the ball near midfield and made a run up the right sideline, laying the ball off to Goodwin. who fired what looked like an impossible shot between the goalie and the near post – which found the back of the net to give Goodwin her second goal of the day, taking the lead to 6-0. With four minutes left in the game, the Spartans earned a corner kick from the right side which was deflected away from the goal and picked up by Freshman Sophia Beviacqua, who dribbled past two defenders and fired one last goal through the goalie’s gloves to wrap up the game 7-0.

The Lady Spartans travel to Memorial High School to battle the Mustangs this Tuesday at 7:15 pm. Take a trip down I-10 to help support the Varsity Girls Soccer program remain undefeated in District play!

*Submitted by Beau Ryan