Soccer Game Preview: Bonita Springs vs. Palmetto Ridge

The Bonita Springs Bullsharks will challenge the Palmetto Ridge Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Bonita Springs took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Their defense stepped up to hand First Baptist Academy a 7-0 shutout. The Bullsharks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by four goals or more this season.

Meanwhile, Palmetto Ridge had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.3 goals) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Seahawks. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked 216th, while the Seahawks are ranked 468th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jonathan Tamayo and Salma Mehdi scored both of Palmetto Ridge's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 15 goals.

Bonita Springs pushed their record up to 12-3 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 36 goals over those seven games. As for Palmetto Ridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-9-4 record this season.