Soccer Game Preview: Grants vs. Valencia

Grants hasn't had much luck against Valencia recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Pirates will challenge the Jaguars at 4:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with five losses in a row, Grants turned things around against Belen on Thursday. Their defense stepped up to hand the Eagles a 2-0 shutout.

Ricardo Sanchez was the driving force of Grants' attack as he scored both of Grants' goals, bringing his season total up to three goals.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Valencia, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. Everything went their way against Belen on Tuesday as they made off with a 5-0 victory. Considering Valencia's offense had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.

Valencia's record now sits at 7-9. As for Grants, their win was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 3-12.

Grants couldn't quite get it done against Valencia in their previous meeting two weeks ago as they fell 3-1. Can the Pirates avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.