Soccer Game Preview: Appling County vs. Pierce County

Appling County is 1-9 against Pierce County since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Appling County Pirates will be playing at home against the Pierce County Bears at 7:00 p.m. Appling County will be strutting in after a win while Pierce County will be coming in after a defeat.

If Appling County beats Pierce County with two goals on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Appling County sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Southeast Bulloch on Tuesday. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia soccer rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while the Yellow Jackets are ranked 201st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, after a string of six wins, Pierce County's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They fell just short of Crisp County by a score of 2-1.

Pierce County's goal came courtesy of Eric Merida, which was the first he's scored this season.

Appling County pushed their record up to 9-3 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 26 goals over those six contests. As for Pierce County, their loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 7-2.

Appling County came up short against Pierce County in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, falling 3-1. Can Appling County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.