Soccer Game Preview: Sahuaro vs. Ironwood Ridge

The Sahuaro Cougars will head out to take on the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Sahuaro's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for 12 straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Sahuaro fell victim to Mica Mountain and their airtight defense on Wednesday. They lost 5-0 to the Thunderbolts. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona soccer rankings (they are ranked 178th, while the Thunderbolts are ranked 17th).

Meanwhile, Ironwood Ridge entered their tilt with Walden Grove on Wednesday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They never let the Red Wolves onto the board and left with a 3-0 victory. Considering the Nighthawks have won four contests by more than two goals this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Byron Kappes and Aiden Gonzalez scored all three of Ironwood Ridge's goals, bringing their combined season tally to eight goals.

Ironwood Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-1-1 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 32 goals over those eight matchups. As for Sahuaro, their loss dropped their record down to 1-11.

Sahuaro suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Ironwood Ridge in their previous matchup back in November of 2023. Can Sahuaro avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.