Soccer Game Preview: Brawley vs. Holtville

The Brawley Wildcats will square off against the Holtville Vikings at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Brawley is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 2.6 goals per game this season.

Holtville is facing Brawley at the wrong time: Brawley suffered their first home loss of the season on Tuesday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell just short of the Spartans by a score of 3-2. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 343rd, while the Spartans are ranked 53rd).

Diego Padilla wasn't going to let Central walk away unscathed as he scored both of Brawley's goals, bringing his season total up to 19 goals.

Meanwhile, Holtville entered their match against Imperial on Tuesday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Holtville took a 2-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Imperial. The Vikings just can't catch a break and have now endured three defeats in a row.

Holtville's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-8-1. As for Brawley, their defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 11-6-2.

Brawley beat Holtville 3-1 in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. Does Brawley have another victory up their sleeve, or will Holtville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.