Soccer Game Preview: Western Branch vs. Menchville

The Western Branch Bruins will take on the Menchville Monarchs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Menchville will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Western Branch extended their winning streak to eight on Tuesday. The Bruins' defense stepped up to hand Deep Creek a 7-0 shutout. Given Western Branch's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia soccer rankings (they are ranked 11th, while Deep Creek are ranked 174th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Menchville had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 goals) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over the Patriots. It was an even better day for Alyssa Ware as she scored three goals for her team.

Western Branch's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-2. The road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 42 goals over those six games. As for Menchville, their victory bumped their record up to 11-3.