The Mater Dei Knights will head out to face off against the Southwestern Piasa Birds at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Mater Dei's offense has struggled lately (the team hasn't scored more than a single goal for nine straight games), a trend the team is no doubt ready to end.
Mater Dei fell victim to Althoff Catholic and their airtight defense on Monday. They came up short against the Crusaders, falling 7-0. While losing is never fun, Mater Dei can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois soccer rankings (they are ranked 265th, while Althoff Catholic are ranked 42nd).
Mater Dei was without their leading scorer, Amelia Beer, in Monday's game. With Beer sidelined, Natalie Lynch got her first action of the season.
Southwestern had taken Greenville down for three straight games at home, but that winning streak came to an end on Monday. The Piasa Birds lost 4-0 to the Comets. Having soared to a lofty five goals in the game before, Southwestern's shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Southwestern has also traveled a rocky road recently, having lost seven of their last eight matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-13-1 record this season. As for Mater Dei, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-11.
Everything went Mater Dei's way against Southwestern when the teams last played back in March, as Mater Dei made off with a 6-0 victory. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Piasa Birds have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
