The Garner Trojans will face off against the Cleveland Rams at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Cleveland took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Garner, who comes in off a win.
On Wednesday, Garner beat Smithfield-Selma 3-1. Given Garner's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina soccer rankings (they are ranked 156th, while Smithfield-Selma are ranked 326th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Adrian Montalvo and Samuel Sanchez scored all three of Garner's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 17 goals.
Meanwhile, Cleveland came up short against Fuquay - Varina on Wednesday and fell 3-1. That's two games in a row now that Cleveland have lost by exactly two goals.
Cleveland used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Fuquay - Varina. Three players got more time on the pitch than they're used to: Julio Cassanova (80), Liam Queen (40), and Ronaldo Gutierrez (80). The trio had averaged 56.3, 18.7, and 43.8 minutes respectively before Wednesday's contest. The pair took full advantage of the opportunity: Queen scored a goal, while he put up one assist.
Garner is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 26 goals over those nine matches. As for Cleveland, they now have a losing record of 7-8.
Garner was able to grind out a solid win over Cleveland when the teams last played back in September, winning 2-0. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Rams turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
