Soccer Game Preview: Johansen vs. Lathrop

The Johansen Vikings will square off against the Lathrop Spartans at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Neither team made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Johansen is likely headed into the matchup with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Pacheco on Friday. Johansen fell just short of Pacheco by a score of 1-0. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 600th, while the Panthers are ranked 179th).

Meanwhile, Lathrop fell victim to Ceres and their airtight defense on Friday. 2025 welcomed they with a 3-0 loss courtesy of the Bulldogs.

Johansen has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-6 record this season. As for Lathrop, their defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 1-1-1 and their overall record down to 4-4-3.

Johansen came out on top in a nail-biter against Lathrop in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. Does Johansen have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lathrop turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.