Preview: Verdugo Hills vs. Stern
The Verdugo Hills Dons will look to defend their home pitch on Wednesday against the Stern Titans at 3:00 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
With a playoff game on the line, Verdugo Hills rose to the challenge on Friday. Their defense stepped up to hand the Eagles a 3-0 shutout. That looming 3-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Verdugo Hills yet this season.
They were led to victory by the tag-team duo of
Diego Herrera and
Gerardo Ramirez, who scored all three of Verdugo Hills' goals. The pair have combined for a total of 12 so far this season.
Meanwhile, Stern was able to grind out a solid victory over Smidt Tech last Friday, taking the game 2-0. Given Stern's advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 159th, while Smidt Tech is ranked 940th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
The win got Verdugo Hills back to even at 8-8-6. As for Stern, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-2 record this season.
