Soccer Game Preview: Effingham vs. Hillsboro

The Effingham Hearts will head out on the road to challenge the Hillsboro Hiltoppers at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Effingham will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

Effingham proved they can win big on Saturday (they won by five) and on Tuesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Mattoon 2-1. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but Effingham were the better team in the second half.

Maicol Sefton and Andrew Wagoner scored both of Effingham's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 57 goals.

Meanwhile, after failing to score in their last contest, Hillsboro made sure to put some goals up on the board against Wesclin on Tuesday. Their defense stepped up to hand the Warriors a 5-0 shutout. Hillsboro might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 matchups by three goals or more this season.

Hillsboro's win bumped their record up to 13-3-1. As for Effingham, their victory bumped their record up to 15-1-3.

Effingham skirted past Hillsboro 2-1 when the teams last played back in October of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hearts since the squad won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.