Lakota East boys soccer won two straight Greater Miami Conference matches Sept. 25–27, setting up a home match against Mason on Thursday, Oct. 1, with conference-title implications.

The Thunderhawks beat Hamilton 3-2 on the road Sept. 25, then topped Fairmont 2-1 at home Sept. 27. The wins pushed East's record to 7-2-3 overall and 4-1-1 in GMC play.

East entered the stretch needing to rebound after what the team's athletics site called "adversity earlier in the month." The Thunderhawks answered with their first back-to-back victories since early September.

Thursday's matchup with Mason carries weight in the conference race. The Report Ohio ranks East No. 3 and Mason No. 2 in its coverage-area boys soccer poll. Reporter Eric Hickey described the game as "a winner-stays-in-the-GMC-race game."

Mason enters at 7-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play, trailing only unbeaten Sycamore in the GMC standings. The Comets beat Lakota West 3-0 the week before, according to The Report Ohio. Landon Miller leads Mason with seven goals, while Tiar Begzhan has five assists.

East counters with junior Miles Polacheck, who leads the Thunderhawks with seven goals this season. Polacheck has been a consistent threat since opening night of GMC play, when he scored the lone goal in a 1-0 shutout at Middletown on Aug. 26.

Senior goalkeeper Nick Maslin has recorded four shutouts.

As we reported Tuesday, Sept. 29, both Lakota schools cracked the area top five in boys soccer. East faces a Mason squad that has lost just once in conference play.

East also hosted Loveland on Tuesday, Sept. 29. That result was not available at publication time. Thursday's match against Mason will be at Lakota East in Liberty Township.