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Upper Iowa coach Brian Bahl told his team that this week ‘is a fresh start.' After dropping three matches last week by a combined score of 9-1, the Peacocks responded for their coach in a big way. Despite a scoreless first period and a slow start in the second half, the Peacock offense found the back of the net three times in a ten and a half minute period and solidified a 3-0 victory over the North Iowa Area CC Trojans in a non-conference match.

First on the board for UIU was senior forward Dan Rasmussen, who scored his first goal in 2012 in the 79th minute of Sunday’s match. Midfielder Alejandro Castaneda crossed the ball from right to left in the 18-yard box and found freshman Jason Bishop, whose pass found Rasmussen right in front of an open net and the senior capitalized to give UIU a 1-0 lead.

“I just saw the net,” he said matter-of-factly. "It was a good opportunity and I just had to put it away."

Just over six minutes later, it was Bishop again on the attack for the Peacocks. Midfielder Greg Marshall found Bishop and the Elgin, Illinois native connected with the net on a ten-yard strike for his second score this year.

“I think he’s a kid who has potential to break out and score a lot of goals,” Bahl said of Bishop. “He stepped up today and we need that more consistently from everyone.”

Bishop wasn’t done wrecking Havoc on the Trojan defense just yet. With only 32 seconds left in the match, the 5-foot-10 forward scored one final time. This time it was freshman forward Rafael Pedroso who found Bishop within the penalty box and the forward redirected the ball to the back of the net. The second and final insurance goal sealed the 3-0 victory and with the win UIU improves to 4-8 overall this year.

“We’re still trying to find the right guys and plug them into the right spots, and I think we found something at the end that clicked,” Bahl said.

Something clicked, especially for Bishop, who had a touch on all three goals.

The Peacocks will enjoy five of their final six matches at home and will play Southern Nazarene this Thursday. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

“We told the guys coming into this game, ‘This is a fresh start,’” Bahl stated. “We started this one off good, so now we just need a good week of practice and get after it.”

UIU will play five more MIAA opponents before the season concludes and Bahl hopes his team can put the past behind them and score like they did today.