Soccer Game Preview: Sonora vs. Esperanza

The Sonora Raiders will square off against the Esperanza Aztecs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Neither team made it on the board the last time they hit the pitch, so they've probably got a bit of extra motivation.

Tuesday just wasn't the day for Sonora's offense. They fell just short of Yorba Linda by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Esperanza was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They lost 4-0 to Crean Lutheran. While losing is never fun, Esperanza can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 251st, while Crean Lutheran are ranked 123rd).

Sonora's defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 1-1-3 and their overall record down to 10-5-5. As for Esperanza, their loss dropped their record down to 7-5-1.

Sonora beat Esperanza 3-1 when the teams last played on January 6th. Will the Raiders repeat their success, or do the Aztecs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.