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Records

Upper Iowa (5-4-1, 2-1-1 MIAA) || # 6 Northeastern State (5-0-2, 2-0-1 MIAA)

Recap

Just as soon as the Upper Iowa Men's Soccer team reached the second spot in the MIAA conference, they were pushed back down into the crowd with a loss on Sunday afternoon.

Taking on one of the highest ranked teams in the nation in No. 6 Northeastern State University, the Peacocks matched them stride for stride in chilly and cloudy Fayette, IA. That is, until the 83rd minute when the RiverHawks earned their second goal of the day to steal a 2-1 victory on the Peacocks' home field.

The loss drops UIU to 5-4-1 this year overall and 2-1-1 in conference play. The loss was also the first home defeat for the Peacocks in 2013. With the victory, the RiverHawks improve to 5-0-2 this year and move out to a 2-0-1 start in MIAA play.

UIU got a boost of momentum early in the game as Troy Parker and Jared Newman created an excellent scoring opportunity for Aaron Calkins. In the 28th minute, Parker lofted a cross into the box which pulled the NSU goalkeeper away from the net. Newman applied some pressure, trying to get a head on it and making sure the keeper couldn't catch the pass cleanly. The plan worked, as the keeper was forced to bat the ball away with two hands.

That led to Calkins' golden opportunity. As the keeper batted the ball away, Calkins collected it about eight yards from the net, shot and scored. It was the sophomore's second goal of the season and it gave UIU a 1-0 lead that held for nearly ten more minutes of play.

The RiverHawks responded with an equalizer before halftime. Joel Mendoza connected on a penalty kick, which ricocheted off UIU goalkeeper Jordan Bell's hand before squeezing inside the right post. The score was alll tied up at 1-1 at the break.

In the second half, UIU struggled to get anything going offensively as NSU racked up the shots.

Just as it looked as if the Peacocks' defense had done its job and sent the game to overtime, the RiverHawks struck. In the 83rd minute, Brandon Carter finished a header from Mendoza from six yards out to earn the eventual game-winning goal.

Despite getting a few good looks at the goal in the second half, the Peacocks couldn't keep up as they dropped the game, 2-1.

UIU managed just three shots in the second half and nine total in the game, while NSU had 25 shots, 14 of which came in the second half.

Stat of the Game

UIU and NSU posted nearly identical shots-on-goal averages. The Peacocks earned a .333 shots-on-goal percentage (3-of-9 shots on goal), while the RiverHawks owned a .32 average (8-of-25 shots on goal). 

Sounding Off

Head Coach Jason Carlson

On the Loss... "I thought the effort was there from our team. Obviously it wasn't good enough, but I thought the guys laid it all out there. It's tough for any team to play two games in a weekend when your opponent didn't have to do that. You could see that late in the game, they were able to rotate easier and stay fresh. With all that factored in, I was happy with the team's effort."

At the End of the Game... "We weren't able to raise our level of play near the end, like we've been able to do in the past. I know they were missing some players, but I thought they had fresh legs late in the game. That seemed to be the difference."

On a Different Starting Lineup... "We wanted to utilize our depth like we've been doing throughout the year. These guys have been training hard and I tried to reward them with the start. It seemed to pay off – we went out and scored a goal early on one of the top teams in the country."

On Aaron's Goal… "Troy Parker played the cross into the box and our forward went up to challenge it. I think that was a big reason for the goal. He challenged the goalkeeper enough so he couldn't catch the ball. Aaron happened to be in the right spot and that played into what we always talk about, which is winning the second ball. The ball came right to him, so it was good to see after Friday's game for Aaron to gather his composure and finish that goal."

Going into Next Week… "We've got a mid-week match with Clarke, so there's obviously some personal ties there for me. We want to get healed up and recovered over the next couple of days so we can be ready for the game. After that, we have a week off which I think will be really good for us. Personally, I'm excited to see some of those players that I used to coach, but my goal and focus is going to be on getting a win for Upper Iowa."

Up Next

In a big matchup for Head Coach Jason Carlson, the Peacocks will take on his former program Clarke University this Wednesday in Fayette on Pattison Field at 3 p.m.