Soccer Game Preview: Pioneer vs. Wilcox

The Pioneer Mustangs and the Wilcox Chargers will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Pioneer is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 7.8 goals per game this season.

Pioneer took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. Their defense stepped up to hand Silver Creek a 6-0 shutout. Considering the Mustangs have won four matchups by more than five goals this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Their offense was hitting Silver Creek from everywhere, as five different players booted in a goal. Destini Twiggs led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by herself.

Meanwhile, Wilcox was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They lost 3-0 to Rancho San Juan. While losing is never fun, the Chargers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 708th, while the Trailblazers are ranked 240th).

Pioneer pushed their record up to 5-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only given up zero goals over those four contests. As for Wilcox, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.

Pioneer was able to grind out a solid victory over Wilcox in their previous meeting back in December of 2019, winning 3-1. Does Pioneer have another victory up their sleeve, or will Wilcox turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.