Soccer Game Preview: Rouse vs. Leander

The Rouse Raiders will venture away from home to challenge the Leander Lions at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Rouse's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for three straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.

Tuesday just wasn't the day for Rouse's offense. They fell just short of Cedar Park by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Rouse can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas soccer rankings (they are ranked 302nd, while Cedar Park are ranked 43rd).

Meanwhile, Leander kept a clean sheet against Lehman on Tuesday. They blew past the Lobos 8-0. Considering Leander have won five matches by more than three goals this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

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

Leander's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-3-2. Those road victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 12 goals over those three matchups. As for Rouse, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-10.

Rouse got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in March of 2025 against Leander by a conclusive 8-0 score. Will the Raiders repeat their success, or do the Lions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.