Soul Head West To Visit Arizona Friday

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Soul have a tough challenge ahead of them as they visit the Arizona Rattlers on Friday night.

Philadelphia is coming off an impressive 73-37 win over the LA KISS in Trenton this past Saturday. Soul head coach Clint Dolezel says his team played well in improving to 9-2.

"They met us, intensity-wise, in the first quarter, they came out and played hard," Dolezel tells KYW Newsradio. "We had a couple of mistakes. But then we turned it on. We blocked a PAT and then the momentum just swung our way."

Listen to the entire interview with Soul head coach Clint Dolezel:

Philadelphia is tied with Orlando for first place in the American Conference. The two teams also share the best record in the AFL. The Soul defense, which has played very well this season, is expected to get even more of a boost this week from the return of linebacker Beau Bell, who has been sidelined by a knee issue much of this season.

"It's always nice to have the best linebacker in the league playing for you," Dolezel says. "He's missed a lot of games for us this year, I think he's played one or two. It will be nice to see him out there in uniform for the Soul. He's a big plus for us."

The Soul won the first meeting between these two teams this season back on May 14th, 65-58, at the Center. It was Philadelphia's first-ever win against Arizona. Both teams played this past Saturday, so both are dealing with a short week, but the Soul have the added hurdle of a cross-country trip.

"The first time we played them it was a short week for us, so we're kind of use to that," Dolezel says. "We only really had two days of practice in this week. It is a challenge. Anytime you're going from east coast to west coast and you have a late start, which is really late for us, just for the simple fact of the time zones, it is tough."

Arizona brings an 8-3 record into this match-up.

Friday night's game in Phoenix kicks off at 10:00.