Soccer Game Preview: Arise vs. Head-Royce

Arise will head out on the road to take on the Head-Royce Jayhawks at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Arise had to skate by with only a one-goal margin when they last took the pitch, which might have inspired the 11-goal drubbing they dealt Varsity Opponent on Sunday. Arise's defense stepped up to hand Varsity Opponent an 11-0 shutout. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for Arise considering their one-goal performance the contest before.

Their offense was hitting Varsity Opponent from everywhere, as seven different players booted in a goal. Michael Rivera led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by himself.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph Notre Dame kept up with Head-Royce until halftime on Friday, but afterwards: not so much. The Jayhawks blew past the Pilots 3-0. The final result isn't all that surprising considering Head-Royce's considerable advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked first, while St. Joseph Notre Dame are ranked 33rd).

Head-Royce used a slightly different lineup for their bout with St. Joseph Notre Dame. Luciano Paredes played for 55 minutes having averaged 28.1 this season and Adrian Ceron got 35 vs. an average of 15. Paredes made the most of the opportunity, putting up one assist A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.

Head-Royce is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only given up three goals over those eight matches. As for Arise, their win bumped their record up to 9-0.