Soccer Game Preview: Matanzas vs. Lake Wales

The Matanzas Pirates will face off against the Lake Wales Highlanders at 7:20 p.m. on Friday. Both teams beat their previous opponents by a single goal, so this matchup might be just as contested.

Matanzas' defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Bolles out 1-0. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 252nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, it was close, but on Wednesday Lake Wales sidestepped Lake Region for a 5-4 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Highlanders.

They hit Lake Region with a four-pronged attack, as the team got scores from Martin Aguilar (2), Benjamin Torres, Sean Woods, and Brandon Sanes.

Matanzas has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which lines up perfectly with their 10-3-1 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 23 goals over those eight games. As for Lake Wales, they pushed their record up to 8-7-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home.

Matanzas beat Lake Wales 2-0 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Will Matanzas repeat their success, or does Lake Wales have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.