Soccer Game Preview: Tinley Park vs. Shepard

The Tinley Park Titans will challenge the Shepard Astros at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Tinley Park has four straight victories, Shepard has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

While Tinley Park's win against Oak Lawn wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Titans beat the Spartans by a goal, winning 2-1.

Alexandria Rocha was the driving force of Tinley Park's attack as she scored both of Tinley Park's goals, bringing her season total up to 11 goals.

Meanwhile, after soaring to four goals the game before, Shepard was a bit more limited in their contest on Wednesday. They came up short against Lemont, falling 7-0. While losing is never fun, Shepard can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 334th, while Lemont are ranked 59th).

Shepard's defeat dropped their record down to 2-10-1. As for Tinley Park, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.

Tinley Park took their win against Shepard in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 5-0 score. Will the Titans repeat their success, or do the Astros have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.