Soccer Game Preview: Rio Mesa vs. San Marcos

The Rio Mesa Spartans will square off against the San Marcos Royals at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday. Neither team made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Rio Mesa's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Buena, sneaking past 1-0. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 378th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 886th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Rio Mesa's one-goal win came courtesy of David Marmolejo, who's now up to 15 this season.

Meanwhile, for the first time since back in December of 2024, San Marcos was forced to settle for a draw on Tuesday. They and Pacifica finished up their contest with a 0-0 draw.

The win made it two in a row for Rio Mesa and bumps their season record up to 13-10. With that draw, San Marcos' record moves to 8-5-3.

Rio Mesa beat San Marcos 4-2 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Will Rio Mesa repeat their success, or does San Marcos have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.