Soccer Game Preview: Washington vs. Normal University

The Washington Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Normal University Pioneers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Washington is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Their defense stepped up to hand Morris a 3-0 shutout.

Meanwhile, Normal University had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 2.3 goals) and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 9-0 margin over the Purple Raiders. The final result isn't all the surprising considering Normal University's considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 53rd, while Bloomington are ranked 339th).

Normal University pushed their record up to 17-3-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 39 goals over those five contests. As for Washington, the win got them back to even at 9-9-1.