Soccer Game Preview: Seventy-First vs. Purnell Swett

The Seventy-First Falcons will venture away from home to take on the Purnell Swett Rams at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Seventy-First has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with 11 straight defeats, while Purnell Swett will come in with five straight victories.

Seventy-First fell victim to Gray's Creek and their airtight defense on Tuesday. They lost 9-0 to the Bears. While losing is never fun, Seventy-First can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina soccer rankings (they are ranked 495th, while Gray's Creek are ranked 159th).

Meanwhile, Purnell Swett hadn't done well against Cape Fear recently (they were 1-6 in their previous seven matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Rams' defense stepped up to hand the Colts a 1-0 shutout. That's two games straight that Purnell Swett have won by just one goal.

Purnell Swett pushed their record up to 11-5 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 15 goals over those three matches. As for Seventy-First, their loss dropped their record down to 0-11.

Seventy-First suffered a grim 8-1 defeat to Purnell Swett in their previous matchup two weeks ago. Can the Falcons avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.