Soccer Game Preview: Tavares vs. South Sumter

The Tavares Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the South Sumter Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Neither squad made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Tavares' defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 1-0 victory over Mount Dora Christian Academy.

Meanwhile, South Sumter was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their ninth straight defeat. They lost 7-0 to Wiregrass Ranch. While losing is never fun, the Raiders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked 536th, while the Bulls are ranked 36th).

Tavares' win bumped their record up to 7-3-1. As for South Sumter, their loss dropped their record down to 1-12.

Tavares came out on top in a nail-biter against South Sumter in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Tavares since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.