Soccer Game Preview: Padua Franciscan vs. Buckeye

The Padua Franciscan Bruins will face off against the Buckeye Bucks at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Padua Franciscan has five straight wins, Buckeye has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

Buckeye better have a healthy lead at halftime, because if Padua Franciscan's game on Tuesday is any indication, that's when Padua Franciscan really gets things going. The Bruins' defense stepped up to hand Elyria Catholic a 4-0 shutout. Padua Franciscan might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matchups by three goals or more this season.

They hit Elyria Catholic with a four-pronged attack, as the team got scores from Ryan Petsche, Eli Christine, Max Bulat, and Garrett Nowicki.

Meanwhile, Buckeye came up short against Rocky River on Wednesday, falling 4-1. While losing is never fun, Buckeye can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio soccer rankings (they are ranked 377th, while Rocky River are ranked 101st).

Buckeye's defeat dropped their record down to 2-11-2. As for Padua Franciscan, their victory bumped their record up to 9-2-3.