Soccer Game Preview: Larkin vs. Round Lake

The Larkin Royals will head out on the road to take on the Round Lake Panthers at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Larkin played in-conference for the first time on Thursday and got just the result they were looking for. They came out on top against Aurora East by a score of 3-1. Larkin found success even though the refs didn't miss a thing: Alan Chavez and Ulises Flores were both handed yellow cards.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Round Lake). They were the clear victors by an 8-1 margin over North Chicago on Tuesday. Given Round Lake's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 192nd, while North Chicago are ranked 446th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Round Lake has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 15 goals over those four matchups. As for Larkin, the win got them back to even at 5-5-3.

Larkin suffered a grim 5-2 defeat to Round Lake when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Can the Royals avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.