The St. Pius X Panthers will challenge the John Paul II Cardinals at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
St. Pius X had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They never let Nolan Catholic onto the board and left with a 1-0 win on Saturday. St. Pius X wouldn't have won without Preston Kyle, who scored the game-winner.
Meanwhile, John Paul II came tearing into Saturday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 1.7 goals) and they left with even more momentum. They had just enough and edged Antonian Prep out 1-0. Given John Paul II's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas soccer rankings (they are ranked 120th, while Antonian Prep is ranked 271st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Pius X pushed their record up to 15-6 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 31 goals over those six games. As for John Paul II, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-1-3 record this season.
St. Pius X beat John Paul II by a goal in their previous meeting back in February of 2018, winning 2-1. Will St. Pius X repeat their success, or does John Paul II have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
