The Peacock men's soccer team used early and late-game scoring to upend the RiverHawks of Northeastern State on Thursday night in Tahlequah, Okla. Upper Iowa trailed early, but scored two minutes later to tie the match. The defenses took over for the next 75 minutes, with neither team being able to connect on a goal. UIU converted in the 86th minute to complete the comeback-win, its third victory over NSU in the last four meetings. With the win, the Peacocks improve to 5-8 overall, and 2-3 in the MIAA. With the loss, Northeastern State drops to 5-7 overall, and 1-3 in league play.
Early fireworks got the match underway, as the home team scored on the first shot attempt of the night. In the ninth minute, Trevor Reed took a pass from Joseph Garcia and was able to send the ball into the net from the top of the box. Upper Iowa took its first shot of the game a minute later, but
Blair Lyons missed just high. However, the Peacocks continued to threaten, and scored on their next shot attempt. In the 11th minute, freshman
Youssef Abougendia gathered the ball and connected from the left wing for his first goal of the season to tie the match. After the early scoring, the defenses settled in. NSU held the advantage in shot attempts (7-4), but the Peacock defense held strong, tallying two blocks and a defensive save in the first frame.
In the second half, it was much of the same. The defenses continued to flex their muscles, as there was just one shot attempt in the first 18 minutes. The second frame was extremely physical as well, as six yellow cards were handed out, including three for each squad. A total of only six shots were attempted in the final 45 minutes, but the visitors were the ones who were able to capitalize with time running out.
In the 86th minute,
Ryan Pinkerton connected with Lyons, who sent a pass to
Ruairidh Crawford. Crawford, who was in the box, corraled the ball and sent it by the NSU goalkeeper for the game-winning score, and his second goal of the season. The home team could not get another shot off, and the Peacocks celebrated a road MIAA win.
Northeastern State held the advantage in shots (11-6), but Upper Iowa converted on a season-best 33% of their shot attempts. Each team placed two shots on goal, while the visitors held a 3-2 lead in corners.
Connor Rortvedt did not register a save in goal as UIU earned a team save, but recorded the win to improve to 5-8 in net. NSU goalkeeper Jackson Biles also did not record a save, and took the loss in net to fall to 1-3 on the season. Upper Iowa's victory snapped a three-match losing streak in MIAA play.
Up next, the Peacocks will head northeast up to Bolivar, Mo. to take on the Bearcats of Southwest Bapist on Saturday at 11 a.m. Upper Iowa has had success against SBU over the years, leading the all-time series 6-1-1, and shutout the Bearcats 2-0 at Pattison Field last month.
