Soccer Game Preview: Pioneer vs. Artesia

Pioneer hasn't had much luck against Artesia recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Pioneer Titans will take on the Artesia Pioneers at 4:45 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Pioneer got their first taste of in-conference action this week and they started things off strong. They walked away with a 3-1 victory over Whitney on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it was close, but on Wednesday Artesia sidestepped Glenn for a 2-1 win. Given the Pioneers' advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 170th, while the Eagles are ranked 590th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Artesia's victory bumped their record up to 9-2-3. As for Pioneer, their win bumped their record up to 6-8-1.

Pioneer was able to grind out a solid victory over Artesia in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, winning 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pioneer since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.