Soccer Game Preview: Albemarle vs. Charlottesville

The Albemarle Patriots will venture away from home to square off against the Charlottesville Black Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

If Charlottesville heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Albemarle took over last week. The Patriots put the hurt on Monticello with a sharp 4-1 win on Monday. It was an even better day for Jacob Brazie as he scored three goals for his team.

Meanwhile, Charlottesville hasn't lost a match yet, a trend which continued in their latest game on Monday. They never let Louisa County get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory. The final result isn't all the surprising considering Charlottesville's considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia soccer rankings (they are ranked eighth, while Louisa County are ranked 242nd).

Charlottesville pushed their record up to 11-0-3 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only given up zero goals over those three matchups. As for Albemarle, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 9-4-2 record this season.

Albemarle came up short against Charlottesville in their previous meeting back in April, falling 5-3. Can the Patriots avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.