Soccer Game Preview: Murrieta Mesa vs. Murrieta Valley

The Murrieta Mesa Rams will take on the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Neither team made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Murrieta Mesa will bounce into Friday's game after beating Chaparral, who they had gone 1-7-1 against in their nine prior meetings. Murrieta Mesa never let Chaparral onto the board and left with a 1-0 victory on Wednesday. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but the Rams were the better team in the second half.

Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 0-0 at halftime, Murrieta Valley was not quite Great Oak's equal in the second half on Wednesday. They took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Wolfpack. While losing is never fun, the Nighthawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 795th, while the Wolfpack are ranked 61st).

Murrieta Valley has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-8 record this season. As for Murrieta Mesa, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-5-1.

Murrieta Mesa came up short against Murrieta Valley when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 4-2. Can Murrieta Mesa avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.