Soccer Game Preview: Cleveland vs. Taft

The Cleveland Cavaliers will head out on the road to square off against the Taft Toreadors at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Neither squad made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Cleveland fell victim to El Camino Real and their airtight defense on Wednesday. They lost 3-0 to the Royals. While losing is never fun, the Cavaliers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 531st, while the Royals are ranked fourth).

Meanwhile, Taft came into Wednesday's match having lost three straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They and Granada Hills Charter finished up on equal footing with a 1-1 draw on Wednesday. The outcome might've been different if Adrian Pena hadn't been hit with a yellow card, which no doubt limited his ability to make aggressive plays down the stretch.

Taft's goal came courtesy of Eloy Pontoja, who's now up to two this season.

Taft's draw makes their record 4-9-2 this season. As for Cleveland, they dropped their record down to 7-6-4 with the defeat, which was their third straight at home.

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