The Varela Vipers will take on the Hialeah Thoroughbreds at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Varela is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to six goals last Tuesday, they were much more limited against Coral Reef on Thursday. They lost 4-1 to the Barracudas. While losing is never fun, Varela can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked 319th, while Coral Reef are ranked 114th).
Meanwhile, Hialeah had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. Their defense stepped up to hand American a 4-0 shutout on Tuesday. Hialeah might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six contests by three goals or more this season.
The victory was the fifth in a row for Hialeah, bringing their record up to 10-4. Those wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only given up one goal over those five matchups. As for Varela, their loss dropped their record down to 8-5-2.
Everything went Varela's way against Hialeah when the teams last played back in December of 2024, as Varela made off with a 4-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vipers since the team won't have the home-pitch advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
