Soccer Game Preview: Hoover vs. Sunnyside

The Hoover Patriots will head out on the road to take on the Sunnyside Wildcats at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hoover's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for 11 straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Hoover managed to keep up with Madera South until halftime on Thursday, but things quickly went downhill from there. The Patriots lost 5-0 to the Stallions. While losing is never fun, Hoover can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 1006th, while Madera South are ranked 372nd).

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Sunnyside challenged San Joaquin Memorial on Tuesday. The Wildcats fell just short of the Panthers by a score of 1-0. While getting shut out isn't ideal, Sunnyside haven't been shut out since back in December of 2025.

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

Hoover came up short against Sunnyside in their previous meeting two weeks ago, falling 3-1. Can the Patriots avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.