Soccer Game Preview: Bloomington Central Catholic vs. Herscher

The Bloomington Central Catholic Saints will head out on the road to take on the Herscher Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Bloomington Central Catholic will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one goal on Wednesday, then bounced right back against Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth on Friday. The Saints' defense stepped up to hand the Cardinals an 8-0 shutout. Considering Bloomington Central Catholic have won six contests by more than four goals this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Their offense was hitting Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth from everywhere, as six different players booted in a goal. Logan Shanks led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by herself.

Meanwhile, Herscher came tearing into Thursday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 goals), and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single goal of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Coalers. The score was all tied up 1-1 at the break, but Herscher were the better team in the second half.

Herscher's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-2-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 18 goals over those four games. As for Bloomington Central Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 7-8-1.

Bloomington Central Catholic suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Herscher in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Saints avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.