Soccer Game Preview: Ponderosa vs. Vista del Lago

Ponderosa hasn't had much luck against Vista del Lago recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Ponderosa Bruins are taking a road trip to face off against the Vista del Lago Eagles at 7:30 p.m. Ponderosa is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 3.3 goals per game this season.

Ponderosa is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Rio Americano on Thursday. Ponderosa fell just short of Rio Americano by a score of 4-3. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Bruins came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 95th, while the Raiders are ranked 675th).

Colton Wells and Theodore Barnum scored all three of Ponderosa's goals, bringing their combined season tally to seven goals.

Meanwhile, Vista del Lago hasn't lost a match since December 5, 2024, a trend which continued in their latest game on Saturday. Their defense stepped up to hand Folsom a 3-0 shutout. That's two games straight that the Eagles have won by exactly three goals.

Vista del Lago has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-2-2 record this season. As for Ponderosa, their loss dropped their record down to 5-2.

Ponderosa came up short against Vista del Lago when the teams last played back in November of 2023, falling 3-1. Can Ponderosa avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.