Soccer Game Preview: Joliet West vs. Sandburg

The Joliet West Tigers will face off against the Sandburg Eagles at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Joliet West has five straight victories, Sandburg has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

Joliet West's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Shepard with a sharp 9-0 win. The result was nothing new for Joliet West, who have now won six games by three goals or more so far this season.

Their offense was hitting Shepard from everywhere, as seven different players booted in a goal. Alicia Casillas led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for three goals all by herself.

The home team had won the previous four meetings between Sandburg and Lockport, and Lockport kept the tradition alive. The Eagles lost 7-0 to the Porters on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Sandburg can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 135th, while Lockport are ranked 20th).

Joliet West pushed their record up to 12-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 13 goals over those three matchups. As for Sandburg, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-6-3.

Joliet West might still be hurting after the 6-0 loss they got from Sandburg when the teams last played back in April of 2016. Will the Tigers have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other soccer content.