Soccer Game Preview: Charleston vs. Effingham

The Charleston Trojans are taking a road trip to face off against the Effingham Hearts at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Charleston will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one goal on Monday, then bounced right back against Taylorville on Tuesday. The Trojans' defense stepped up to hand the Tornadoes a 9-0 shutout. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for Charleston's offense, which had struggled in the games prior.

Their offense was hitting Taylorville from everywhere, as seven different players booted in a goal. Russell Applegate led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by himself.

Meanwhile, Effingham came tearing into Thursday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.8 goals), and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single goal of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Braves.

Effingham's victory bumped their record up to 17-1-3. As for Charleston, they picked up their first home win, bumping their record up to 6-12.

Charleston might still be hurting after the 7-0 loss they got from Effingham in their previous matchup back in September. Can the Trojans avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.