Soccer Game Preview: Mater Dei vs. JSerra Catholic

The Mater Dei Monarchs will venture away from home to take on the JSerra Catholic Lions at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Mater Dei's last three games have been decided by no more than a goal, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Last Tuesday, Mater Dei and Santa Margarita finished up on equal footing with a 1-1 draw.

Mater Dei's goal came courtesy of Valentina Labuschagne, who's now up to four this season.

Meanwhile, JSerra Catholic had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 2.5 goals) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged the Lancers out 2-1.

JSerra Catholic is also on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4-1 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 22 goals over those seven contests. Mater Dei's draw gives them a new season record of 7-2-4.

Mater Dei suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to JSerra Catholic in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. Can Mater Dei avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.