Soccer Game Preview: Orthopaedic vs. Annenberg

The Orthopaedic Vipers will take on the Annenberg Panthers at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Orthopaedic is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 2.6 goals per game this season.

Orthopaedic came up short against Aspire Ollin on Monday, falling 7-3. The defeat continues a trend for the Vipers in their matchups with the Jaguars: they've now lost six in a row.

Jocelin Epigmenio and Jamie Mendez scored all three of Orthopaedic's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 14 goals.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Annenberg faced off against Aspire Ollin on Wednesday. Annenberg fell just short of Aspire Ollin by a score of 3-2. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 911th, while the Jaguars are ranked 419th).

Annenberg has also traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five matchups, which has put a noticeable dent in their 5-9 record this season. As for Orthopaedic, their loss dropped their record down to 10-6.

Orthopaedic was able to grind out a solid victory over Annenberg in their previous meeting last Monday, winning 3-1. Does Orthopaedic have another victory up their sleeve, or will Annenberg turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.