The Salem Wildcats will head out to square off against the Wesclin Warriors at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Salem's favor is that they have posted at least four goals in their last five games.
Salem is coming into the matchup fresh off a high-scoring shootout with Freeburg that saw the pair combine for 29 shots on goal. Salem came out on top against Freeburg by a score of 4-2 on Saturday. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 90th, while the Midgets are ranked 261st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Caleb Purintun and
Eli Baker scored all four of Salem's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 39 goals.
Meanwhile, there was early excitement for Wesclin after they claimed the first goal on Monday, however, they wouldn't score again. They fell just short of Centralia by a score of 2-1.
Salem pushed their record up to 9-1 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Wesclin, their loss dropped their record down to 5-5.
Salem was able to grind out a solid victory over Wesclin in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 5-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Salem 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
