THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER… Upper Iowa (1-7, 0-5 NSIC) hits the road again for a pair of Northern Sun Conference matchups against Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State University. The Peacocks will head north to face the Dragons on Friday at 3 p.m. before making their way to Aberdeen, S.D. for a battle against the Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
A GLANCE BACK... Upper Iowa suffered back-to-back losses in last week's action against #12 Bemidji State University (5-1) and University of Minnesota Crookston (1-0). The Peacocks allowed four goals in the first 18 minutes of play and a second-half penalty kick in the loss to the Beavers, but saw a converted penalty kick from
Maida Alijagic which marked her first score of the season. On Sunday, the Golden Eagles stunned the Peacocks in the final two seconds of the contest when they took a bouncing ball past
Natalie Rudrud for the lone score of the game. Upper Iowa saw a season-high 11 shots in both of last week's contests.
SEARCHING FOR A CONFERENCE WIN… The Peacocks have played a third of the NSIC schedule thus far and will look for their first conference win this weekend on the road against the Dragons and the Wolves. Conference opponents have outscored the Peacocks 14-2 in matches thus far, but eleven of the opponents' goals came from three of the top-4 teams in the conference; Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State and Bemidji State. With 13 teams in the NSIC standings at two or less wins, a pair of wins this weekend would go a long way towards putting UIU back in the race for a conference tournament spot.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS…
vs. MSU MOORHEAD… The Dragons (2-5, 2-3 NSIC) went 1-1 in last week when they fell to University of Sioux Falls 2-1 on Friday evening and bounced back quickly with a 1-0 victory over Southwest Minnesota State University. MSUM's other conference win came in a 3-2 overtime victory against Minot State University on Sep. 14. Carly Jo Gamrath and Tomoni Nishihara each have two goals for the Dragons while Jessica Dallman leads the team in shots (12) and has a goal of her own. Nishihara notched her first goal of the season in the overtime win over MISU and her second in the game against SMSU – both game winners. Kayleigh Sedlacek owns a 1.55 goals against average, has recorded 47 saves, and has played in all seven games for MSUM. The Dragons have been outshot 52-126 this season and sit 11
th in conference standings.
THE SERIES… UIU carries an 11-3-0 all-time record against MSU Moorhead into the weekend. The Peacocks have won eight straight contests against MSUM, outscoring the Dragons 27-11 in the stretch. UIU scored the game-winner in the 76
th minute to claim the 2-1 victory in 2017 and shutout the Dragons in 2016 (2-0) and 2015 (6-0).
vs. NORTHERN STATE… The Wolves (4-3-1, 2-2-1 NSIC) are also coming off a split in last week's action. Both matchups ended in 2-1 decisions with NSU coming out on top against Southwest Minnesota State University but falling to Sioux Falls University. Northern State edged MSU Moorhead earlier in the month with a 1-0 decision to mark its other conference win. Darian Leschewski appears to be the offensive threat for the Wolves as she leads the team in goals (5), points (11), shots (26), and shots on goal (17). Leschewski contributed a goal in each of the Wolves' contests last week. Shianne Rosselli and Stephany Estrada also have a pair of goals for NSU, and Rosselli has two assists. The Wolves have seen action from three different keepers this season; Haley Hollstrom (12:58), Jessica Otto (425:00), and Lexie Montoya (302:02). Otto has a 0.64 goals against average and leads the keepers in saves (32) and shutouts (2), while Montoya started the Wolves' last three matches and owns a 1.79 goals against average. Northern State will first take on Winona State University on Friday afternoon.
THE SERIES… The Peacocks suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss against Northern State last season to trail 5-6-3 in the all-time series. In 2017, UIU took 37 shots in the game which marked the second highest total in the NSIC and the most in program history against an NCAA Division II program. The Peacocks limited the Wolves to five shots in the contest, but NSU found the back of the net with two of those for the win. UIU has won five of the last eight contests and will look to rebound after back-to-back losses in the last two years.
