Soccer Game Preview: Salem vs. DuQuoin

The Salem Wildcats will face off against the DuQuoin Indians at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Salem has three straight victories, DuQuoin has 11 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

On Saturday, Salem needed a bit of extra time to put away Roxana. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Shells 3-2.

Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for DuQuoin's offense. They came up short against Carterville on Wednesday, falling 9-0. While losing is never fun, DuQuoin can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 402nd, while Carterville are ranked 152nd).

DuQuoin's loss dropped their record down to 0-11. As for Salem, their victory bumped their record up to 7-11.

Everything went Salem's way against DuQuoin when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Salem made off with a 6-2 win. In that matchup, the Wildcats amassed a halftime lead of 5-1, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Monday.