Soccer Game Preview: Emery vs. Manti

Emery is 2-8 against Manti since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Spartans will look to defend their home pitch against the Templars at 4:00 p.m. Neither squad made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Emery is headed into Wednesday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 11th straight game on Friday. They lost 3-0 to Delta. The contest was a 0-0 toss-up at halftime, but Emery couldn't quite close it out.

Meanwhile, Manti had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 goals) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. Their defense stepped up to hand the Soaring Eagle a 1-0 shutout. Given Manti's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah soccer rankings (they are ranked 26th, while Juan Diego Catholic are ranked 87th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Manti's one-goal win came courtesy of Tommy Bridges, who's now up to 11 this season.

Manti's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 33 goals over those seven games. As for Emery, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-11.

Emery suffered a grim 8-0 defeat to Manti in their previous meeting back in March. Will the Spartans have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other soccer content.