Soccer Game Preview: Hoffman Estates vs. Wheeling

The Hoffman Estates Hawks will head out on the road to face off against the Wheeling Wildcats at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Hoffman Estates will be strutting in after a win while Wheeling will be coming in after a defeat.

Hoffman Estates' defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 2-0 victory over Barrington. The win was all the more spectacular given Hoffman Estates' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 158th, while Barrington are ranked 39th).

Meanwhile, after soaring to four goals the game before, Wheeling was a bit more limited in their matchup on Tuesday. They fell just short of Prospect by a score of 2-1.

Hoffman Estates has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-7-2 record this season. As for Wheeling, their loss was their sixth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 2-7-2.

Hoffman Estates took their victory against Wheeling in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a conclusive 5-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the squad won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.