Soccer Game Preview: New Hanover vs. Hoggard

New Hanover hasn't had much luck against Hoggard recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Wildcats will head out to square off against the Vikings at 6:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped with close wins against their previous opponents.

New Hanover played in-conference for the first time on Thursday and got just the result they were looking for. They never let West Brunswick get on the board and left with a 1-0 victory. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but New Hanover were the better team in the second half.

Their one-goal win came courtesy of Gracie Calderon, who's now up to two this season.

Meanwhile, Hoggard narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Topsail 3-2. Given Hoggard's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina soccer rankings (they are ranked eighth, while Topsail are ranked 58th) , the result on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Hoggard's victory bumped their record up to 11-1. As for New Hanover, their win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 2-7-1.

New Hanover suffered a grim 9-0 defeat to Hoggard in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.