Soccer Game Preview: Live Oak vs. West Valley

The Live Oak Lions will challenge the West Valley Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Live Oak is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.

Live Oak is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. While the 1-1 score might suggest a draw, it was Live Oak who was credited with the victory. Their winning goal came courtesy of Johanna Petrone.

West Valley can't be too worried about heading out to take on Live Oak: they just beat Orland at home, who had been dominant on their own pitch up to that point. West Valley skirted past Orland 1-0. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but the Eagles were the better team in the second half.

West Valley used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Orland. Joselyn Urbina played for 80 minutes having averaged 39.1 this season and Nya Bigelow got 80 vs. an average of 54.6. Bigelow made the most of the opportunity, scoring a goal A few more games like that and she might be seeing even more time going forward.

West Valley is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 35 goals over those ten contests. Live Oak's win bumped their record up to 15-7.

Live Oak took their victory against West Valley in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 by a conclusive 7-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Live Oak since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.