Soccer Game Preview: Highland vs. Valencia

Highland is 2-8 against Valencia since September of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Hornets will host the Jaguars at 6:30 p.m. Highland will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

Highland is headed in fresh off scoring the most goals they have all season. Their defense stepped up to hand Grants an 8-0 shutout on Tuesday. Give Highland's defense some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.

Meanwhile, Valencia fell victim to St. Pius X and their airtight defense on Tuesday. They lost 11-0 to the Sartans. While losing is never fun, Valencia can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico soccer rankings (they are ranked 66th, while St. Pius X are ranked tenth).

Valencia's defeat dropped their record down to 1-12. As for Highland, their win bumped their record up to 9-4.

Highland beat Valencia 3-1 in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Will the Hornets repeat their success, or do the Jaguars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.