Soccer Game Preview: Escalon vs. Johansen

The Escalon Cougars will head out to challenge the Johansen Vikings at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Escalon took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Argonaut with a sharp 7-0 win. The high-scoring effort was just what the Cougars needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.

Their offense was hitting Argonaut from everywhere, as six different players booted in a goal. Damian Morales led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by himself.

Meanwhile, Johansen had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 2.7 goals) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Panthers 2-1.

Johansen's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 12 goals over those three matchups. As for Escalon, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-3-2.

Escalon came out on top in a nail-biter against Johansen when the teams last played back in November of 2019, sneaking past 1-0. Will Escalon repeat their success, or does Johansen have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.