Soccer Game Preview: St. Joseph Academy vs. Palatka

St. Joseph Academy is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Palatka is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The St. Joseph Academy Flashes will host the Palatka Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

On Thursday, St. Joseph Academy got the win against Mainland by a conclusive 5-1. With the Flashes ahead 5-0 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Meanwhile, Palatka kept a clean sheet against Saint Francis Catholic on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Wolves as they made off with a 6-0 victory. Rihanna McCaskill had to tread lightly for part of the match after she was hit with a yellow card, but that was the only trouble the Panthers got from the refs.

Palatka's offense was hitting Saint Francis Catholic from everywhere, as five different players booted in a goal. Mary Fishley led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by herself.

Palatka is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 19 goals over those four contests. As for St. Joseph Academy, their win bumped their record up to 7-4.

Everything went St. Joseph Academy's way against Palatka in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, as St. Joseph Academy made off with a 4-1 victory. Will St. Joseph Academy repeat their success, or does Palatka have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.