Soccer Game Preview: Mariner vs. Riverview Sarasota

The Mariner Tritons will head out to take on the Riverview Sarasota Rams at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Mariner has three straight victories, Riverview Sarasota has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

Mariner's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They put the hurt on Dunbar with a sharp 6-0 win. Considering the Tritons have won ten games by more than two goals this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

They hit Dunbar with a three-pronged attack, as the team got scores from Neil Zela (3), Justin Medero (2), and Thomas Castano-Rayo.

Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 1-1 at halftime, Riverview Sarasota was not quite Parrish Community's equal in the second half on Tuesday. They fell 3-1 to the Bulls. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked 236th, while the Bulls are ranked 108th).

Mariner pushed their record up to 19-2 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 56 goals over those 11 contests. As for Riverview Sarasota, their loss dropped their record down to 5-7-1.

Mariner beat Riverview Sarasota 3-1 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mariner since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.