Soccer Game Preview: Pacheco vs. Ceres

Pacheco and Ceres are an even 4-4-2 against one another since February of 2020, but likely not for long. The Pacheco Panthers will take on the Ceres Bulldogs at 6:15 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.

Pacheco's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They won by a goal and slipped past Johansen 1-0. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 201st, while the Vikings are ranked 581st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Ceres fell victim to Lathrop and their airtight defense on Tuesday. They came up short against the Spartans, falling 3-0.

Ceres' defeat dropped their record down to 7-7-5. As for Pacheco, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-4-1.

Pacheco took their win against Ceres in their previous matchup on January 7th by a conclusive 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pacheco since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.