Soccer Game Preview: Escalon vs. Rio Linda

The Escalon Cougars will wrap up 2024 with a road trip to face off against the Rio Linda Knights at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Escalon's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for three straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Last Friday, Escalon might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Hilmar an easy 8-1 victory. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 774th, while the Yellowjackets are ranked 292nd).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Rio Linda). Their defense stepped up to hand Destiny Christian Academy a 6-0 shutout last Friday. The score was close at the half, but the Knights pulled away in the second half with five goals.

Their offense was hitting Destiny Christian Academy from everywhere, as six different players booted in a goal.

Rio Linda moved to 5-6-1 with that win, which also ended their four-game losing streak. As for Escalon, they now have a losing record at 2-3-3.