Stratford vs. Cy-Falls High School - 02.04.25

Your Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team was back at home on Tuesday night, hosting the Golden Eagles from Cy Falls High School. CFHS is brand new to District 17-6A as a result of the 2024-2026 UIL Reclassification and Realignment. The Spartans came out ready to show them what caliber of competition they’ll be up against for the next several years, and just 20 seconds into the match, Cy Falls got a taste of what they would be up against all night. Off a Golden Eagle possession, Junior – Sara Benton intercepted a goal kick and raced back up the field with the ball, slamming on the brakes hard enough to put her defender on her heels, and a fired a 20-yard shot inside the right post as the goalkeeper stood and watched the ball whiz by to put SHS up 1-0 early. Less than two minutes later, it was Senior – Ryann Weber working the ball up the right side of the field and sending a pass out in front of Senior – Allison Goodwin, who made two quick touches and quickly outran the defender to the goal, and blasted the ball inside the near post, to put SHS up 2-0. At the 4-minute mark, Goodwin fired a shot from the right side that was kicked away from the goal directly to the foot of Senior – Mary Charlotte Paul. Paul wound up and sent a laser to the back of the net for the third Spartan goal of the night before all the spectators had even taken their seats. At this point, the Green & White slowed their pace down a bit and focused on passing & footwork, but they wouldn’t decelerate too much as they were back on the attack in the 15th minute of the match. Goodwin played a long pass up the right side to Sophomore – Audrey Brendel, who turned and quickly sent the ball back to Goodwin, who was unmarked and fired a shot from distance to the far post out of reach of the diving goalie (4-0). The last goal of the first half would come in the 22nd minute in the form of a great cross by Junior – Sydney Valentine to Paul, who was able to trap the ball, make a quick spinning touch, and find the back of the net for her second goal of the first half to take SHS to halftime with a 5-0 lead.

The Spartans would get things going again quickly in the opening minutes of the second half when Valentine made a run to the left side of the goal, firing a hard shot that deflected off of the Cy Falls goalie directly to Paul, who cleaned up the loose ball, increasing the lead to 6-0 and notching a hat trick on her personal stat line. In the 44th minute, off of a Golden Eagles goal kick, Senior – Hannah Ryan was the first to the ball, sent a quick pass to Goodwin, and then sprinted on to the goal. Goodwin gave the ball right back to Ryan, who had to beat the charging goalie, and sent the ball back to the left side, finding the back of the net and scoring her first goal of the season. In the 60th minute, Paul sent a long ball upfield to connect with Valentine, who dribbled past two defenders and fired a shot inside the near post for the eighth Spartan goal of the evening. The 8-0 lead would trigger the mercy rule, ending the game with 20 minutes left on the clock. This was Stratford’s 5th 8-0 victory in a row, keeping them perfect in District play to date.

Stratford at Cy Ridge High School - 02.07.25

The Spartans hit the road on Friday evening, heading north on Eldridge Parkway to take on the Cy Ridge Rams. Less than two minutes into the match, Senior – Allison Goodwin would fire on-goal and earn a corner for the Spartans. Senior – Mary Charlotte Paul would take the corner and send it directly on frame, beating the keeper herself, to give Stratford the opening goal. Cy Ridge tried to make life difficult for the Spartans by keeping 8 to 9 players inside their own box, making for a very congested space. Stratford would keep poking and prodding before finally breaking through in the 16th minute of the match. Paul would send another corner kick into the box, where it pinged around the mass of players in front of the Cy Ridge goal before bouncing up and hitting a Ram defender in the arm, giving Stratford a penalty kick. Senior – Liv Harbison would abandon her post in goal to run all the way down the field to take the PK for Stratford. A hard shot low and left beat the opposing goalkeeper and gave Harbison her first goal of the year. Ten minutes later in the first half, the Spartans would connect a number of great passes up and across the field to earn their next chance. Sophomore – Audrey Brendel would start the sequence out of the back, finding Senior – Hannah Haygood, who switched the field over to Freshman – Hannah Hewitt. Hewitt then found Junior – Sara Benton, who played out wide to Junior – Sydney Valentine, who chipped a ball over the back line of the Rams, where a sprinting Senior – Ryann Weber would speed past the defense and around the goalie before slotting the ball into the net. With eight minutes left in the half, Benton would win the ball in the midfield and send the ball forward to Sophomore – Sophia Beviaqua, who slid the ball onto Goodwin. Goodwin, despite being triple-teamed, spun around to create enough space to fire her shot, beating a leaping goalkeeper and giving the Spartans a 4-0 lead at the half.

In the 46th minute of the match, Weber intercepted a Cy Ridge pass and sent it up the sideline to Valentine. Valentine cut central and shot on-frame, but the goalkeeper was able to push the shot just wide. Benton would take the corner for Stratford, sending it into the mass of humanity in front of the goal. The ball once again would be ping-ponged around inside the box before leaking out right to the feet of Senior – Whitney Bui, who came sprinting in from a defensive position and hit a laser on-frame, leaving the Ram goalkeeper flat-footed as she watched it hit the back of the net.

Just a few minutes later, Weber once again would get things started, using her aerial skills to intercept a Ram goal kick, redirecting to Benton, who would send it onto Junior – Avery Rushing. Rushing passed the ball across the field to Paul, who fired a shot over the keeper for the 6th goal. Eighteen minutes later, Benton would earn a corner that would be taken by Paul. The ball would fly across the goal toward the back post, where Weber was perfectly positioned to hit a beautiful header into the goal. With 16 minutes remaining in the match, Goodwin broke through the Cy Ridge defense and drove toward the goal before crossing the ball to the far post, where Paul would redirect the ball into the net to earn a hat trick as well as the 8th and final goal of the match. The referee would enforce the mercy rule, and your Spartans would improve to 6-0 in District play.

Stratford will face Memorial at home on Tuesday, February 11th at 7:15 pm.