Soccer Game Preview: Salem vs. Lord Botetourt

The Salem Spartans will head out on the road to square off against the Lord Botetourt Cavaliers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Salem is coming into the matchup on a four-game losing streak.

Salem lost 5-1 to Patrick Henry on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Salem can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia soccer rankings (they are ranked 51st, while Patrick Henry are ranked second).

Meanwhile, Northside kept up with Lord Botetourt until halftime on Tuesday, but afterwards: not so much. The Cavaliers put the hurt on the Vikings with a sharp 3-0 win. Lord Botetourt might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by three goals or more this season.

Will Hall and Kalob Daniels scored all three of Lord Botetourt's goals, bringing their combined season tally to five goals.

The victory got Lord Botetourt back to even at 4-4. As for Salem, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 4-4.

Salem skirted past Lord Botetourt 2-1 when the teams last played on April 4th. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Spartans since the squad won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.