Stratford Varsity @ Cy Creek High School - 01.23.25
As Winter Storm Enzo hit the Houston area on Wednesday, the Varsity Girls Soccer District opener would be delayed a day for things to warm and the snow to clear. The Lady Spartans loaded the team bus on Thursday, January 23rd and traveled to Cy Creek High School to battle the Lady Cougars. The Green and White took control of the game immediately with three hard shots from Senior – Mary Charlotte Paul in the first four minutes that narrowly missed their mark. However, it wouldn’t take much longer for SHS to get on the board. In the 13th minute of play, Paul was set up to take a corner kick from the right side, but instead played a short ball to Junior – Sara Benton, who fired a hard shot at the Cougar goalie that ricocheted directly to Sophomore – Audrey Brendel, who cleaned up the loose ball and sent it into the back of the net to put the Spartans up 1-0. A short time later at the 16’ minute mark, Senior – Allison Goodwin drove toward the goal, but was quickly triple-teamed and found Benton at the top of the box unmarked. With a quick touch to her right, she fired a ball deep into the left corner of the goal (2-0), giving the keeper no chance to defend. In the 19th minute, it was Goodwin again finding Paul open, and she took two quick touches to shake the nearest defender, faked left, and then shot right, just inside the near post to increase the lead to 3-0. Just four minutes later at 23’, Goodwin sent a quick ball to Benton, who torched a shot from distance (25+ yards), just over the keeper and under the crossbar for her second goal of the night and the fourth for the Spartans (4-0). In the 25th minute, Senior – Ryann Weber would get in on the action when she received a quick pass from Junior – Sydney Valentine and smoked her own 25+-yard shot just under the crossbar to increase the lead to 5 goals. With less than a minute to play in the opening half, Sophomore – Sophia Beviacqua intercepted a Cougar goal kick, dribbled through three Cy Creek defenders, and squeezed the ball inside the right post to wrap up the first 40 minutes with a dominating 6-0 advantage.
With the match being dominated from the opening whistle, the Spartans were able to get every player on the team some meaningful minutes and also the opportunity for different players to play new positions. A short while into the second half at the 54’ minute mark, we’d see how those changes worked out. Freshman – Hannah Hewitt opened the second half on the offensive side of the field from her normal position on the back line of the defense and showed off her footwork. Hewitt worked the ball toward the goal, winding up to take a shot, but was fouled and knocked down in the process, earning the referee’s whistle and the chance to take her own foul shot. She wouldn’t waste the opportunity and with a quick shot to the left side of the goal, she would notch her first Varsity High School goal and increase the lead to 7-0. In the 57th minute, Sophomore – Juliana Molinas would take a throw-in from the left side of the field and get a pass right back, where she fired a shot from distance that looked good off the foot, but just caught the far right post – but Paul was there in position and quickly tapped the ball in for the 8th goal of the night for the Green and White. With 20 minutes to go in the second half and an 8-0 lead, the referee blew one long last blast of his whistle to end the match early and give Stratford their first District win of 2025.
Stratford Varsity vs Northbrook High School - 01.24.25
The Spartans would take the field for their home District opener versus Northbrook High School on a cold and windy Friday night. The Spartans would start fast, gaining possession and stringing opportunities from the opening minutes. It would take less than 10 minutes before Senior – Ryann Weber would send a ball over the top destined for Junior – Sydney Valentine, who would sprint to save the ball on the endline. Valentine would then play the ball across the box to an unmarked Senior – Allison Goodwin, who opened the scoring for the Spartans.
A few minutes later, Senior – Mary Charlotte Paul would connect with Valentine, who dribbled past a couple of Raider defenders before shooting on-frame and beating the Northbrook keeper to put the Spartans up 2-0. Senior – Hannah Ryan would get the next chance. She started by finding Goodwin, who split two Raider defenders before firing a cross to the foot of Valentine, who volleyed the pass into the net. In the 19th minute of the match, Sophomore – Sophia Beviacqua sent a beautiful cross from the near side of the field to a streaking Weber, capitalizing on the opportunity by smashing the ball into the back of the net.
Goodwin would earn another assist by sending a great cross right across the box to a waiting Junior – Avery Rushing, who executed a flawless one-touch redirection of the ball into the back of the net. Stratford’s final chance of the half started with Rushing playing Senior – Hannah Haygood a ball at the top of the box. Haygood fired a great shot that ricocheted off of the far post before the keeper was able to scoop it up and end the chance. The Spartans would take a 5-0 lead into halftime.
The Spartans wasted no time as the second half got underway. Valentine would intercept a Raider pass and make a quick pass to Beviacqua, who found the feet of a streaking Weber. Weber would race ahead toward the Raider goal before shooting and scoring near post. Senior – Liv Harbison makde a save on a Northbrook free kick just outside of the box and quickly started a counter-attack for the Spartans. Harbison punted the ball up the field to a sprinting Junior – Sara Benton. Benton would send the ball forward to Goodwin, who outran the Raider defenders and sent the ball to the back of the net. Benton would create the next opportunity as well, sending a great cross across the goal that would find the feet of Paul. Paul immediately shot on-frame, beating the Raider goalie. As the clock hit the 60th minute of the match, the referee blew the whistle enforcing the new mercy rule and ending the match.
The Spartans improved to 2-0 in District play and will next take the field on Wednesday, January 29th at 7:15 pm at Jersey Village High School.