The Bradford High boys soccer team has been here before, last year, in fact.

In 2013, the Owls captured their first District 10 Region 4 championship in program history, unseating three-time defending champion Warren in the process.

As it happens, Warren once again stands in the way, as the two teams square off Wednesday at Parkway Field (5:30 p.m.) in what is essentially the de facto Region 4 championship game.

Warren, 11-5 overall and 10-1 in Region 4 holds a 1-game lead over the Owls, 14-2 overall, 9-2 Region 4. However, the Dragons’ lone region blemish came at the hands of Bradford, 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 25.

“Based on what’s happened the past few years, I had a feeling it might be this type of game,” said Bradford coach Wes Lohrman. “Putting Meadville in the mix this year made things a little cloudier, but once we were able to get ourselves on track, it became clear to me that this would be a game with the region title laying on the line.”

Both come in playing some of their best soccer of the season.

The Dragons, who will enter the District 10 playoffs, are winners of five-straight, while the Owls, who will go to the D-9 playoffs, have won nine of their last 10.

But, even if the stakes weren’t as high as they are Wednesday, the intensity would still be there, according to Lohrman.

“When we put each other on the field, no matter what the records are, it’s going to be a close, tightly-contested game,” he said. “It’s one of those games where we don’t like to look ahead, and I know they don’t either, but it gets circled.”

There are many similarities between the two, starting with the fact that both feature elite goal scorers that have garnered big headlines — Ben Jordan for the Owls and Quinn Boger for the Dragons.

Jordan has set both the single-season and all time record in goals for Bradford (he has 39 this season), while Boger leads Warren with 20 markers.

They are far from the only ones, however, that make these two squads go.

Defensively they are almost equal, with Bradford giving up 16 goals as a team and Warren 15.

In net, Bradford’s Cody Hennard has registered nine shutouts, while Warren’s Clark Eason has six.

Both also feature senior leadership on the backline that has been hard to penetrate.

Warren seniors Joey Close and Max Gross have both registered over 200 steals on the season, while Bradford seniors Brandon Hart, Sawyer Packard and Jon Palmer as well as junior Ben Bean lead a stout unit.

“We’ve been working on some adjustments, as I would expect they have, too,” Lohrman said.

Another common trait is skill and athleticism at midfielder, led by John Obermeyer, who became the Owls’ all-time assist leader in their win over Titusville, as well as Warren’s Bryce Bauer, who helps set the physical tone for the Dragons.

Warren also has a weapon they didn’t have in the first game, senior foreign exchange student Mariano Zamora, who missed time with a knee injury, but is back at full strength now, having recorded a hat trick in Warren’s win over Meadville on Monday.

He will add another dimension to a game filled with high stakes, intensity and mutual respect

Two of the last three meetings, both overall and at Parkway Field, have gone to overtime and the Owls’ coach expects something similar this time around.

“I definitely look at is at being a tight game,” Lohrman said. “I have a feeling, knowing the mentality Warren has, that they don’t like to lose to us and I know we don’t like to lose to them. I know that they are looking forward to this game as well. Any time you put Warren and Bradford on the pitch, it’s fun for the players, as well as the coaches and the fans.”

Players you can look for today are listed below:

Bradford

Keeper: 1 — Cody Hennard (senior)

Defense: 11 — Ben Bean (junior), 14 — Sawyer Packard (senior), 28 — Brandon Hart (senior), 18 — Jon Palmer (senior), 23 — Mitch Forbes (sophomore), 20 — Matt O’Brien sophomore

Midfielders/Forwards: — Forbes, 17 — John Obermeyer (senior), 9 — Todd Smith (freshman), 3 — Travis Gleason (senior), 21 — Curtis Rodgers (senior), 22 — Ben Jordan (junior)

Warren

Keeper: 99 — Clark Eason (junior)

Defense: 23 Max Gross (senior), 19 — Joey Close (senior), 7 Sheldon McMeans (junior), 32 — Connor Guiffre (freshman)

Midfielders: 3 — Bryce Bauer (senior), 11 Steffen Blair (senior), 9 — Mitch Dorunda (senior), 14 — Tristan Boger (junior)

Forwards: 16 — Simon Smith (sophomore), 10 — Quinn Boger (senior), 2 — Jason Tipton (senior), 4 — Mario Zamora (senior)