Soccer Game Preview: Cumberland vs. Westerly

The Cumberland Clippers will challenge the Westerly Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Cumberland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: East Greenwich, who was ranked sixth at the time (Cumberland was ranked eighth). The Clippers blew past the Avengers 4-1 on Tuesday. Cumberland's offense finally found a way to get into gear: the high-octane performance was a 180-degree turn from their last five games.

Braidey Carr and Paynter Maher scored all four of Cumberland's goals, bringing their combined season tally to ten goals.

Meanwhile, Westerly entered their tilt with Moses Brown on Wednesday with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Their defense stepped up to hand the Quakers a 2-0 shutout. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Westerly's victory bumped their record up to 8-4-1. As for Cumberland, their win bumped their record up to 5-3-2.

Everything went Cumberland's way against Westerly in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, as Cumberland made off with a 3-0 victory. Will the Clippers repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.