THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER... The Upper Iowa men's soccer team will take a break from MIAA play for a day as they head to Liberty, Mo. to battle the Cardinals of William Jewell College on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. The Peacocks will then return home to Fayette to begin the second half of their league schedule. UIU battle the Lions of Lindenwood University on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 11 a.m., as they look for their first MIAA victory. Sunday's game can be seen on UIU TV online and in eastern Iowa on KCRG TV 9.2. The game can also be streamed on the Stretch Internet app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV.
THE SERIES... The Peacocks will line up against William Jewell for the first time on Wednesday night. WJC resides in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Upper Iowa trail the overall series with Lindenwood 1-10-1 all-time, and have dropped three straight against the Lions. Lindenwood picked up two wins against Upper Iowa last season, and topped UIU earlier this season, 2-1. The Peacocks did earn a split in 2015, including their first-ever win against LU.
TIGERS TOP PEACOCKS LAST WEEK... Upper Iowa dropped a hard-fought, 4-1 decision to the Tigers of Fort Hays State University last Friday afternoon at the rainy Pattison Field. The field conditions played a factor for both teams, and after a delayed start, the teams got going. Three first-half goals proved to be the difference, as FHSU grabbed a 3-1 halftime lead. The Tigers defense held strong in the second half to preserve the 4-1 victory. FHSU led 15-11 in shots for the game, and the first half success proved to be enough.
FIRST GO AROUND... Back on Sept. 24, UIU matched up with Lindenwood down in St. Charles, Mo. for the MIAA opener, and the Lions prevailed 2-1. Upper Iowa struggled to get shots off on offense, finishing with just five total shot attempts in the game. UIU scored with one minute remaining to get on the board, but ultimately dropped the match 2-1. UIU's goal came in the 89th minute of the game, when
Italo Martins Soares scored his second goal of the season from 25 yards away, and tucked the ball in the top right of the net.
SAVES PILING UP... Senior goalkeeper
Connor Rortvedt has been piling up saves this season in net for the Peacocks. The Verona, Wis. native has now tallied 47 saves in 2017, which ranks second in the MIAA and 43rd nationally. Rortvedt's 5.22 saves per game ranks second in the league as well, and 30th in the country. The goalkeeper is on pase for 87 saves this season, which would shatter his season-best of 76 back in 2014. Rortvedt is tallied 269 career saves in goal for the Peacocks.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS...
vs. WILLIAM JEWELL... The Cardinals (3-8, 1-8 GLVC) picked up their first Great Lakes Valley Conference win of the season last week against McKendree University, 1-0 in double overtime. Evan Miller knocked in the golden goal off a corner kick from Charlie Parrish in the 103rd minute for the victory. For the season, Drew Dempsey leads the squad with five goals scored. In net, the Cardinals have used two goalkeepers, Quinn Ruggeri and Nick COoper. Ruggeri is 2-4 on the season with 26 saves in 553 minutes, while Cooper is 1-4 with 14 saves in 446 minutes.
vs. LINDENWOOD... The Lions (6-5, 2-2 MIAA) surrendered two second-half goals to Fort Hays State in a 2-1 loss in St. Charles, Mo. Michele Ganz netted the first goal of the game in the early stage of the second half. Ganz took a shot from close range and found the rebound nearing the end line, but was able to get spin on the ball to score from the tough angle. Fort Hays State scored less than 10 minutes later to tie the game and added the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute. For the season, Ganz leads the team with nine goals scored, leading the league in that category.
