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Upper Iowa Peacocks

Men's Soccer 10/21/2014 10:26:00 AM Doug Ingels, Sports Communication Graduate Assistant

Men's Soccer Goes On The Road For a Pair

UIU visits Illinois Springfield in a mid-season out of conference tilt before heading to Bolivar, Mo. to take on SBU

LIVE STATS: Illinois Springfield
WEBCAST: Illinois Springfield

This week in Peacock men's soccer… Upper Iowa (7-6-1, 4-5 MIAA) hits the road for a pair of matches. The week begins with an out of conference match against the Illinois Springfield Prarie Stars on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and ends with UIU getting back into MIAA play against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Prarie Stars are 4-10 this season and come into the match with three consecutive losses. This will be the first time Upper Iowa has faced Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats are 0-13 in 2014, with nine of those losses coming by two or more goals. The Peacocks beat SBU 5-1 in Fayette on Sept. 18. UIU is 3-1-1 against the Bearcats since joining the MIAA prior to the 2012 season.

Troy Ounce of Gold... Junior defender Troy Ewers had started every game in his career at Upper Iowa coming into the season, with 18 as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore, but hadn't scored a goal as a Peacock. The third year has been the charm for the Chaska, Minnesota native, as he has found the back of the net three times this season. His first goal came against Southwest Baptist on Sept. 18, while the other two came against Southern Nazarene on Oct. 4 and Oct. 18.

Consistency in the Back... Junior defenders Hugo Alves, Rhys Williams and Ewers, as well as goalkeeper Connor Rortvedt have started all 14 matches this season for UIU. Junior defender Sebastian Smith has made 11 starts in the backline, with junior Gregg Fairly filling in with three starts. This consistency has allowed the Peacocks to be strong in their defensive third, ranking third in the MIAA in goals against average and shutouts.

Last week for the Prarie Stars… Illinois Springfield dropped two games on the road. Last week started with a 2-1 loss at Missouri S&T in which Prarie Stars scored first, but surrendered a late goal in each half to fall to the Miners. Then UIS traveled to take on Drury and lost to the Panthers, 2-0, as Drury took the lead in the third minute and never looked back.

Last week for the Bearcats… Southwest Baptist lost a pair of home conference matches. First against Lindenwood, the Bearcats gave up a goal with less than eight minutes left in the match to fall, 1-0. In a loss to Fort Hays State, SBU fell down 3-0 in the first half, then allowed two more goals to eventually fall 5-0.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Hugo Alves: D; 5' 8"; Junior

#16 Troy Ewers: D; 5' 11"; Junior

#23 Sebastian Smith: D; 6' 2"; Junior

#2 Rhys Williams: MF; 5' 10"; Junior

#0 Connor Rortvedt: GK; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Hugo Alves
: 5' 8"; Junior
: D

#16 Troy Ewers
: 5' 11"; Junior
: D

#23 Sebastian Smith
: 6' 2"; Junior
: D

#2 Rhys Williams
: 5' 10"; Junior
: MF

#0 Connor Rortvedt
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: GK