The JV Stratford Girls' amazing soccer season came to an end the Friday before spring break. The last week of District consisted of 2 games.

vs. Memorial

On Tuesday, March 5th The Lady Spartans played their highly anticipated second match-up against rival Memorial High School. This go-round the Mustangs had the home field advantage. The game lived up to everything we expected. Offensive and defensive battles were present the entire game. There were lots of great shots and saves by both teams. The Stratford girls dominated the 1st half but just couldn’t seem to slip a goal in. The roles reversed in the 2nd half with Memorial holding on to the ball a little more. Our defense fought hard but with 10 mins left in the game,  the Mustangs were able to slip a goal in, for the first goal against the JV Lady Spartans this season, to go up 1-0. Our JV Lady Spartans kicked off and started pressuring right away. The girls put up a great fight, creating several chances to tie it up, but in the end we were unable to score before the buzzer, resulting in a 0-1 loss.

vs. Jersey Village

On Friday, March 8th our JV Team hosted Jersey Village. With this being their final game of the 2024 season, the Lady Spartans were on a mission to ensure that every teammate had scored a goal. Their primary focus in the first half was on our GK Sophia Schulz playing in the field as #23 to get her first goal. With 23:46 on the clock, Julia Wolf passed to Bella Saavedra, who split the defenders to find Schulz’s feet. She took a nice first touch before shooting, allowing her to put in her first goal of the season and Stratford’s first goal of the game! SHS 1- JVHS 0 Mission accomplished! Two mins later, Claire Lamon kicked the ball up the field to Camille Warren, who reached Cate Shofner. Shofner made a nice turn and beat a defender before putting in goal # 2. SHS 2 - JVHS 0. With 10 mins left in the half, Ella Bui won the ball off of the goalie’s punt. She settled it down and found Elizabeth Bryd, who did a give and go with Kaija Sola. Byrd dribbled down the field before crossing the ball to a waiting Lily Terveen, who took a nice touch, setting herself up to put the ball in the back of the net. SHS 3 – JVHS 0. With the clock in the final seconds of the half, Byrd and Terveen teamed up again with another cross from Byrd that found Terveen in the middle of the box ready to tap the ball in for the final goal of the half. SHS 4 – JVHS 0!

It was clear that the Lady Spartans were enjoying the beautiful weather and the game of soccer while having fun playing different positions on the field for their last game. About 7 mins into the second half, Warren dribbled up from the back to find Byrd’s feet. She laid the ball back to Maddison Gallerano, who took an amazing shot from about 20 yards out that landed right over the goalie’s head and changed the scoreboard to SHS 5 - JVHS 0. At 19:21, Sarah Fadhli won the ball in the back before passing it up the field to Sola. She beat a few defenders before finding the feet of Lamon. Lamon took a shot on the ground that scooted under the goalie for goal #6. SHS 6 – JVHS 0. Five mins later, Morgan Long sent a ball into the box where Nicole Abbey was able to use the outside of her foot to redirect the ball past the goalie to give us another goal. SHS 7-JVHS 0. With 13 mins left on the clock, Sola sent the perfect through ball to Warren, who had a great turn before sending the ball into the back of the net to score our 8th goal of the game. SHS 8 – JVHS 0. At the five-minute mark, Fadhli challenged the defender in the box. She forced them to play the ball out wide to Long. She dribbled down the sideline and sent a a nice cross into the box where Sylvia Castaneda battled for the ball before slipping it into the goal for #9! SHS 9 – JVHS 0. With 2 mins left in the game, Long sent the ball into the middle to Bui. She had a nice move to beat the defender. Her shot was from about 20 yards out and it found the back of the net. SHS 10 - JVHS 0

This win was a fantastic way for the JV Lady Spartans to end their season and hold the title of JV Lady's Soccer District Champs for the second year in a row!