Over the last two weeks, the Spartan Freshman JV-B Boys Soccer Team had a great start to their divisional games by going 3-1-0 with 9 goals in favor and 2 goals against, earning shutouts in 3 of the 4 games. Overall, their record is 12-2-1.

vs. Cy Creek

The Spartans started their divisional games with a 2-0 win at home over the Cy Creek Cougars on Thursday, January 23rd. Coach Foster-Davison started the boys on a 4-3-3 formation with #24 Muon at left back (LB), #17 Sancio and #3 Gutierrez as center backs (CB), and #7 Ko as right back (RB). The midfield was comprised as follows: #8 Murillo as left midfield (LM), #6 Mennes as center mid (CM), #14 Sierra as right mid (RM). Forwards included #23 Daniel Torres as a left winger, #9 Medina as striker, and #12 Garcia as right winger. #00 Pineda Sebastian started out as goalkeeper (GK).

The game started off a bit slow by the Spartans, so the defense had to step up to thwart an aggressive Cy Creek. However, at the 17’ a corner kick by #7 Ko was headed into the goal by #14 Sierra (1-0 Stratford). Stratford remained consistent throughout the first half and at 33’ #8 Murillo made a great pass to #19 Malachi McDill that was stopped by Cy Creek’s GK.

The 2nd half opened with a great save at 33’ by #17 Sancio with a slide tackle in the box when Cy Creek had a clear shot on goal. #00 Pineda Sebastian was hurt on the play when he crashed with the attacker and was subbed out by #26 Al-Saad. The Spartans' second goal arrived at the 46’ with a shot by #9 Medina from the top of the box across the goalkeeper that was assisted by #12 Garcia.

The Spartans kept on dominating and at 54’ an attack by #19 McDill, assisted by #18 Jayden Blanco, just missed over the crossbar of Cy Creek. At 55’ a free kick by #5 Jeremy Saenz missed just wide of the post. Cy Creek’s best opportunity came at 58’, but the Spartans were saved on the one on one by GK #26 Al-Saad.

vs. Northbrook

The next day the team traveled to play the Northbrook Raiders, the division juggernaut, and were handed their first divisional loss by a score of 0-2. Coach Foster started the boys on a 4-3-3 formation with #00 Pineda Sebastian (GK), #24 Muon (LB), #17 Sancio and #3 Ediel Gutierrez (CB), #7 Ko (RB), #8 Murillo (LM), #6 Mennes (CM), #14 Sierra (RM), #12 Garcia, #9 Medina, and #10 Martinez as forwards.

The Spartans started anemically as if burdened by the weight of their opponent’s jersey, and by 9’ the first goal by Northbrook arrived as their #7 headed the ball off a corner kick. However, they came off the half break playing stronger and began to dominate their opponent, but the goal did not come. At 44’ Northbrook scored their second goal off the foot of #7 with a shot from the top of the box.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, #5 Saenz was injured at 25’ and #18 Blanco after a slide tackle at 45’. We wish them a speedy recovery.

vs. Jersey Village

On Wednesday, the Spartans hosted the Jersey Village Falcons and dominated most of the game, beating them 2-0. Coach Foster started the boys on a 4-3-3 formation with #24 Rondo Muon at left back (LB), #17 Bruno Sancio and #3 Ediel Gutierrez as center backs (CB), #7 Ethan Ko as right back (RB). The midfield was comprised as follows: #8 Matthew Murillo as left midfield (LM), #6 Atticus Mennes as center mid (CM), #14 Gavin Sierra as right mid (RM). The forwards included #20 Octavio Molina as a left winger, #9 Felipe Medina as striker, and #10 Erik Martinez as right winger. #00 Mateo Pineda Sebastian started out as goalkeeper (GK).

The first goal came in 6’ on a fast-break and a shot in the box by #9 Medina. The Spartans kept on building opportunities to score by keeping the game on the Falcons’ side of the field. Under that pressure, the second goal came not much later at 20’ when #20 Molina finished a pass by #8 Murillo. The Falcons’ best opportunity came at the 53’ when they sprinted dangerously close into the small box but were stopped on a slide tackle by #17 Sancio.

vs. Cy Fair

On Saturday, the Spartans hosted the Cy Fair Bobcats and routed them with 5 goals. The lineup of the 4-3-3 formation was the same as on Wednesday on defense and midfield, but Coach Foster modified the forwards by starting #12 David Garcia instead of #10 Martinez as right winger, and #26 Solomon Al-Saad started out as goalkeeper (GK).

Goal scoring started at 10’ with a great cross pass from #9 Medina that bounced in the box and then was headed into the goal by #14 Sierra. The second goal came at 19’ when #10 Martinez was fouled in the box for a penalty kick call and later tapped the ball into the lower right side of the goal. Just 3 minutes later, the Spartans were scoring again when #4 Atticus Rigo positioned himself just on-sides enough for a shot that hit the crossbar but bounced into the goal. At 28’, #10 Martinez was given too much space by the Bobcats and took advantage of it to stop the ball and take a rainbow shot that went into the top right corner of the goal! The last goal came at 37’ from the foot of #8 Murillo with an assist by #7 Ko.

Stratford’s strong defense was anchored by center backs #3 Gutierrez and #17 Sancio, full backs #24 Muon, #7 Ko, as well as #16 Russ Wiseman, Fabian Maldonado, Guillermo Alba, and Erik Sherman keeping a clean sheet throughout the week.

This week the Spartans will play at Cy Falls on Tuesday and will host Cy Ridge on Friday. We hope to see you there!