Soccer Game Preview: Philip Simmons vs. Manning

The Philip Simmons Iron Horses will take on the Manning Monarchs at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Philip Simmons has nine straight victories, Manning has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

Philip Simmons proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by six) and on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They never let Stratford get on the board and left with a 1-0 win. Give Philip Simmons' defense some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.

Their one-goal win came courtesy of Cris Morales, who's now up to 13 this season.

Meanwhile, Manning came up short against Lake City on Friday, falling 10-1. Things were pretty much settled by the half as Manning were already down 7-0.

Philip Simmons' victory was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-2. Those road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 40 goals over those nine games. As for Manning, their loss dropped their record down to 3-19.