Last week, the Spartan JV Freshman B Team continued their solid run in the District games by beating the Cypress Falls Eagles 1-0 and Cypress Ridge Rams 1-0. Their District record is 5-1 with only a first round game missing, which will be against Memorial on Tuesday February 11th. The Spartans have shutout their opponents in 5 of the 6 games played and have 11 goals in favor and 2 goals against. Overall, their record is 14-2-1 (W-L-T).

JV-B vs. Cy Falls

On Tuesday, the Spartans visited at the Cy Falls Eagles field for a game that had a lot of back-and-forth but with many more goal opportunities for the Spartans. Coach Foster started the boys on a 4-4-2 formation with #24 Rondo Muon at left back (LB), #17 Bruno Sancio and #3 Ediel Gutierrez as center backs (CB), and #7 Ethan Ko as right back (RB). The midfield was comprised of #8 Matthew Murillo as left midfield (LM), #6 Atticus Mennes and #10 Eric Martinez as center midfielders (CM), #14 Gavin Sierra as right mid (RM), and the forwards included #9 Felipe Medina and #12 David Garcia. #00 Mateo Pineda Sebastian started out as goalkeeper (GK).

The first goal close-call came at 7’ when Garcia, Martinez, and Medina triangulated for a goal that was called back due to offsides. The Spartans would be called offsides three more times this game. Another great play came at 20’ when #4 Atticus Rigo was racing toward the line on the right side and made a beautiful cross to an unfortunately empty box that was later picked up by Ko and Martinez for shots on goal.

Stratford’s goal came at 40’ when #12 Garcia intercepted a poorly executed goal kick and crossed a shot to goal from the top of the box. The Eagles’ closest chance to score came at 45’ when their striker initially won the aerial ball from #17 Sancio, then touched it past the GK #00 Pineda. The ball kept on slowly bouncing its way toward the goal until #17 Sancio, who had kept on running to help out the GK, swept the ball out right on the goal line!

Another save by Pineda came at 46’ when the Eagles sent a shot just over the crossbar. Overall, there was strong defense by the starters and #16 Russ Wiseman, #13 Erik Sherman, and #11 Fabian Maldonado that helped the Spartans shut out the Eagles.

JV-B vs. Cy Ridge

The Friday game against the Cy Ridge Rams had a similar 4-4-2 formation as Tuesday with #4 Rigo starting as forward and #26 Solomon Al-Saad as GK. Stratford’s goal came at 22’ on a cross shot from the central top of the box by #12 Garcia with an assist from across the field by #8 Murillo.

Overall, this was a tight game with back-and-forth plays by both teams and strong defenses that held forwards at bay. It was a very physical game with no calls going Stratford’s way. #17 Sancio had key slide tackles at 41’ and 56’ to stop the Rams’ approach in the box.

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