Soccer Game Preview: Gray's Creek vs. Union Pines

The Gray's Creek Bears are taking a road trip to face off against the Union Pines Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Union Pines will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Gray's Creek extended their winning streak to three last Thursday. The Bears' defense stepped up to hand Douglas Byrd an 11-0 shutout. It was an even better day for Sofia Carrasco as she scored three goals for her team.

Terry Sanford typically has all the answers at home, but last Wednesday Union Pines proved too difficult a challenge. They blew past the Bulldogs 7-2. The final result isn't all the surprising considering Union Pines' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina soccer rankings (they are ranked 37th, while Terry Sanford are ranked 178th).

Union Pines has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-3-1 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 46 goals over those nine matchups. As for Gray's Creek, their victory bumped their record up to 10-4.

Gray's Creek suffered a grim 8-0 defeat to Union Pines when the teams last played back in March of 2021. Can the Bears avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.