Soccer Game Preview: St. Joseph vs. Merit Preparatory Academy

The St. Joseph Jayhawks will take on the Merit Preparatory Academy Knights at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

St. Joseph is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Draper APA with a sharp 6-3 win. The victory continues a trend for St. Joseph in their matchups with Draper APA: they've now won five in a row.

Meanwhile, Merit Preparatory Academy entered their tilt with American Prep WV on Wednesday with three consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with four. They walked away with a 3-1 win over the Eagles. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Erick Bedolla and Cruz Steinman scored all three of Merit Preparatory Academy's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 46 goals.

Merit Preparatory Academy pushed their record up to 11-4 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 19 goals over those three games. As for St. Joseph, their victory bumped their record up to 8-4.

Everything went St. Joseph's way against Merit Preparatory Academy in their previous meeting back in March of 2022, as St. Joseph made off with a 10-0 win. Will the Jayhawks repeat their success, or do the Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.