Soccer Game Preview: St. James Academy vs. Blue Valley

The St. James Academy Thunder will challenge the Blue Valley Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. James Academy has seven straight victories, Blue Valley has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the pitch.

St. James Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kansas' top teams: De Soto, who was ranked second at the time (St. James Academy was ranked fourth). The Thunder blew past the Wildcats 4-1 on Monday. Considering St. James Academy have won four matches by more than two goals this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

They hit De Soto with a three-pronged attack, as the team got scores from Alexa Aylward (2), Kambree Duker, and Georgia Goodwin.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Blue Valley's offense. They fell just short of Park Hill by a score of 1-0 on Thursday.

Blue Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 2-4. As for St. James Academy, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-0.

Everything went St. James Academy's way against Blue Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as St. James Academy made off with a 3-0 victory. Will the Thunder repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.