LIVE STATS: UW-Parkside || Lewis
WEBCAST: UW-Parkside || Lewis

THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER

The Upper Iowa men's soccer team kicks off the 2015 season with a pair of home games starting with UW-Parkside on Friday, September 4, followed by Lewis on Sunday, September 6. The Peacocks are 0-2 against both schools since moving up to NCAA Division II, losing 2-1 to Parkside in 2008 and 4-0 in 2009. Lewis defeated UIU 8-0 in 2007 and 2-1 in 2008. 
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER

1       EXPERIENCED PEACOCKS: Upper Iowa brings back the core of its starting 11 from the 2014 season, including eight All-MIAA honorees. Senior midfielder Leandro Pena and junior forward Ryan Pinkerton were named to the All-MIAA First Team, while sophomore midfielder Johnny McBeth garnered All-MIAA Second Team honors. Senior defenders Hugo Alves, Rhys Williams and Sebastian Smith earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention, along with junior midfielder Fausto Ordenana and freshman goalkeeper Connor Rortvedt.
 
2      FRESH FACES: The 2015 roster features a plethora of new players, including eight freshman and three junior transfers. Freshman Aaron Morgan, Dominic Boland and Blair Lyons come to UIU from Scotland, while Mariano Pereira comes from Brazil and Joaquin Alonso hails from Argentina. Coming to Upper Iowa from stateside is Bradley Kaufer (California), Chad Peterson (Wisconsin) and Diego Duran (Illinois) to round out the freshman class, while Tim Brackett (Colorado), Alejandro Gota (Florida) and Ludin Gonzales (Missouri) make up the junior transfers.
 
3       BUILDING SUCCESS: In 2014, the Peacocks were fourth in the MIAA, matching their best finish in the conference and qualifying for the postseason tournament for the second time in three years in the league. Upper Iowa's 10 wins matched the 2011 team for the most in a single season since 2008. In head coach Jason Carlson's two seasons at the helm of the program, he has led the Peacocks to a back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010-11, with the chance to make it three straight seasons above .500 for the first time since moving up to NCAA Division II.

4       RETURNING SCORING: UIU returns 100% of its scoring from last season after losing only two players to graduation. Pinkerton led the team with 18 points in 2014, followed closely by McBeth (16), Pena (13) and Williams (12). Pena and Pinkerton have 32 and 31 career points, respectively, ranking third and fourth in career points since the program moved to NCAA Division II. 
 

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ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

vs. UW-PARKSIDE: The Rangers will be opening the season with their game against the Peacocks. UW-Parkside returns five of its top seven goal scorers from a season ago, including Antonio Gonzalez who netted eight goals and seven assists as the Rangers closed the season 9-7-2 overall and 6-7-2 in GLVC play while ranking 22nd in the nation in scoring offense.

vs. LEWIS: The Flyers have one game before taking on the Peacocks, opening the season at home on Sept. 4 against Saginaw Valley State. Lewis was selected to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing the 2014 season fourth in the conference at 10-4-3 overall and 9-3-3 in conference play.