Soccer Game Preview: Apex vs. Willow Spring

The Apex Cougars will venture away from home to take on the Willow Spring Storm at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Apex is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They never let Jack Britt get on the board and left with a 4-0 victory. Bianca Sirk had the honor of scoring the game-winner for Apex.

Meanwhile, Willow Spring hasn't lost a match since March 3rd, a trend which continued in their latest game on Monday. They blew past Gray's Creek 4-0. Given Willow Spring's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina soccer rankings (they are ranked 68th, while Gray's Creek are ranked 203rd) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Willow Spring is on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 15 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-2-3 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 77 goals over those 15 games. As for Apex, their victory bumped their record up to 11-5-3.

Everything went Apex's way against Willow Spring in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Apex made off with a 4-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the squad won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.