The Peacocks used two goals in the first six minutes to propel themselves past the Prarie Stars of Illinois Springfield, 2-1.

Junior midfielder Leandro Pena, last season's team leader in goals, assists and points, had started the 2014 season relatively slowly. But that wasn't the case against Illinois Springfield.

Pena struck early against the Prarie Stars, scoring just 3:45 into the game. Fellow junior midfielder Rafael Pedroso sent in a cross from the right side of the field and Pena volleyed the shot into the left side-netting to give the Peacocks an early 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later Pena was at it again. The UIS goalkeeper mishandled the ball and the Lavras, Brazil native buried his second goal of game just 5:34 into the match. 

The Prarie Stars would get within one before the end of the first half. Junior forward Mark Williams took the ball from a Peacock defender and beat UIU goalkeeper Kyran Johnson, who was making his first career start. Following the goal, the Peacocks rebounded to take the next four shots of the game, but couldn't score. UIU went into the halftime break leading 2-1.

The second half saw both teams battling back and forth. The Prarie Stars nearly tied the game in the waning moments of the match, but Johnson was able to dive to his right and deflect the ball out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick for UIS was cleared by the Peacocks and the clock ran out before the Prarie Stars were able to move the ball back into the UIU defensive third.

Upper Iowa outshot the Prarie Stars 12-9, putting four shots on goal compared to UIS's three. Pena led the Peacocks with four shots, while Ryan Pinkerton and Jared Newman had two each. Johnson made two saves in net for UIU.

The Peacocks return to conference play next with a match at Southwest Baptist on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Peacocks defeated the Bearcats earlier this season, 5-1, in Fayette on Sept. 18.