THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS MEN'S SOCCER… The Peacocks will host their third consecutive home match on Saturday, Oct.12 at 11 a.m. versus Purdue-Northwest University. Visit UIUPeacocks/Live to follow along via live stats and a webcast.
HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE… This will be the first time in program history the Peacocks face off against the Lions. Saturday's match will also be the last time the Peacocks play a new opponent during the 2019 regular season. The Lions finished 9-7-1 (7-5 in GLIAC play) in 2018. Purdue-Northwest lost in the GLIAC tournament quarterfinals 1-0 to Ashland University, ending their playoff hopes early on.
Forward Justin Barragan led the GLIAC in game-winning goals (3) as well as yellow cards (8) during the 2018 season. Barragan returns to the Lions for his junior season. As a team, Purdue-Northwest had the least amount of points scored (66) out of all GLIAC teams during the 2018 season. The Lions are currently 1-9-0 (1-5 in GLIAC play).
WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED… Upper Iowa fell to Davenport University by a 5-0 count in Friday's match. Davenport got out to an early 1-0 just two minutes into the first half of play. The Panthers were able to score two more goals before the end of the half, going up 3-0 at the 38th minute mark. Davenport scored two more goals in the second half to win 5-0. Sophomore forward Matt Whelan scored twice to put his goal total on the year at five. Freshman midfielder Eoin Broughan had two assists in the match putting his season total at three. Freshman forward Stan Cargill led the way for the Peacocks as he had two of the five shots Upper Iowa got off on the match, one of which was on goal.
Upper Iowa was defeated by Ashland University 2-0 in Sunday's match. Ashland got out to an early 1-0 lead just five minutes into the match. Junior midfielder George Brown scored after picking up a rebound and finding the left side of the net to score from five yards out. Upper Iowa had two contested scoring attempts five minutes later at the 10 minute mark which both were to no avail. Peacocks goalkeeper Anthony Velez made a pair of impressive saves in the 25th minute. The match remained scoreless for 83 minutes after Brown's goal. The two teams put on an impressive display on the defensive end of the ball. Ashland tacked on one more score in the 85th minute. Sophomore midfielder Keagan Brown scored within the box putting the game out of reach giving Ashland the 2-0 victory.
WHAT'S NEXT … The Peacocks will host the final pair of home games out of the five game homestand they are currently in. Upper Iowa will first play Northern Michigan University on Friday, Oct.18 at 3 p.m. The Peacocks will then face off against University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. If can't attend and would like to follow along via live stats or a webcast, visit UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
