Soccer Game Preview: Alleghany vs. Radford

The Alleghany Cougars will head out on the road to face off against the Radford Bobcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Alleghany's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for 12 straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Alleghany fell victim to James River and their airtight defense on Thursday. They came up short against the Knights, falling 8-0. While losing is never fun, Alleghany can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia soccer rankings (they are ranked 316th, while James River are ranked 118th).

Meanwhile, after failing to score in their last matchup, Radford made sure to put some goals up on the board against Patrick County on Thursday. Their defense stepped up to hand the Cougars a 4-0 shutout. The win continues a trend for Radford in their matchups with Patrick County: they've now won four in a row.

Radford's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-2-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 14 goals over those three games. As for Alleghany, their loss dropped their record down to 0-12.

Alleghany suffered a grim 4-0 defeat to Radford when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.