Soccer Game Preview: Southwestern vs. Gillespie

The Southwestern Piasa Birds will square off against the Gillespie Miners at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Southwestern's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for four straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Southwestern managed to slip by Staunton the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Piasa Birds came up short against the Bulldogs on Wednesday, falling 9-0. While losing is never fun, Southwestern can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 346th, while Staunton are ranked 60th).

Meanwhile, Gillespie had to endure a seven-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They and Roxana finished up on equal footing with a 2-2 draw on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for Gillespie as the team haven't won a game since March 27th.

With that draw, Gillespie's record moves to 2-7-2. As for Southwestern, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-10-1.

Everything went Southwestern's way against Gillespie when the teams last played back in May of 2023, as Southwestern made off with an 8-0 victory. Do the Piasa Birds have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Miners turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.