Photo Gallery against UW-ParksideThe Peacocks men's soccer team started the season on a strong note, defeating the UW-Parkside Rangers 3-1 in a central region battle.
Despite a slow start, Upper Iowa went into the halftime break up 1-0. With just over ten minutes left in the opening half, the Rangers committed a foul in their own box and senior captain
Rhys Williams buried the penalty kick.
In the second half, Upper Iowa came out with renewed energy, controlling the pace of play. After a couple good chances to start the latter period,
Greg Marshall put the Peacocks up 2-0.
Ryan Pinkerton took the ball from the outside into the box then found Marshall standing just outside the penalty box, where he was able to rip a shot past the Ranger goalkeeper.
Less than five minutes later, UW-Parkside cut the Peacock lead in half. The Rangers turned a counter-attack into a goal as they quickly worked the ball up the right side of the field and found a wide open Ryan Shogren in the box, who scored to make it 2-1 with 20 minutes left.
But after the goal, it was all UIU. The Peacocks took five of the game's next six shots, including an insurance goal from freshman forward
Blair Lyons, the first of his Peacock career. Lyons took a pass down the right side from Gabriel Caetano, cut in at the top of the box and put left-footed shot just inside the near post to give Upper Iowa a 3-1 lead.
Lyons led the team with four shots on the day as the Peacocks outshot the Rangers 14-11. UIU goalkeeper
Connor Rortvedt made two saves on the day.
Upper Iowa will be back on the pitch Sunday when they take on Lewis University at Pattison Field on Sunday at noon.
