Soccer Game Preview: Mt. Zion vs. Mattoon

The Mt. Zion Braves are taking a road trip to take on the Mattoon Greenwave at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Mt. Zion took a loss when they played away from home last Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. Their defense stepped up to hand Mahomet-Seymour a 4-0 shutout. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for Mt. Zion considering their one-goal performance the matchup before.

Meanwhile, after failing to score in their last contest, Mattoon made sure to put some goals up on the board against Taylorville on Thursday. They put the hurt on the Tornadoes with a sharp 9-0 win. The final result isn't all that surprising considering Mattoon's considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 178th, while Taylorville are ranked 479th).

Mt. Zion pushed their record up to 12-5 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only given up one goal over those four matches. As for Mattoon, their victory bumped their record up to 13-6-2.

Mt. Zion beat Mattoon 3-1 in their previous meeting back in September. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Braves since the squad won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.