THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER… Upper Iowa is on the road for a second straight weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Conference matches on Friday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 20. The Peacocks will take on the Huskies of St. Cloud State University on Friday at 4 p.m. and then challenge the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth on Sunday at 12 p.m. UIU enters the weekend with a 2-6-3 record overall and a 2-4-2 mark in the NSIC good for 10^th place in the conference standings. SCSU comes in tied for 7^th place with a 4-3-3 mark overall and a 3-2-2 conference record, while UMD is 4-6-1 overall and 2-5-1 against NSIC teams, which ties for 11^th place.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES… St. Cloud State is coming off a 4-0 shutout of Northern State University last weekend; the Huskies had their match with Minnesota State University Moorhead postponed until November due to weather conditions in northern Minnesota last weekend. The Huskies have three wins in conference play over Northern State, Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston and a pair of ties with Wayne State College and Bemidji State University. The Huskies scored 12 goals in their 10 matches; 7 of those goals have come in the second half and one more in a second overtime period. Claire Shea has a third of the goals (4) for the Huskies and a pair of assists to claim the team lead in points with 10, while Tatyana Gusakow has netted 3 goals. Zoe Welsh has logged every minute of the season between the pipes for SCSU (987:59); she has grabbed 49 saves while allowing only 8 goals in ten games.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS… Minnesota Duluth defeated Northern State 2-0 and tied MSU Moorhead 1-1 last weekend, both games were played in Aberdeen, S.D. due to winter weather in northern Minnesota. The four points toward the conference standings came after three straight 1-0 losses to Wayne State, Augustana and Concordia University, St. Paul. UMD's wins in conference have come against Northern State and Minnesota Crookston. The Bulldogs have scored 15 goals in their 11 matches, while allowing 13 to their opponents. Emily Hinz leads UMD with 13 points thanks to 6 goals and an assist. Her goal total is even more impressive when factoring in that she has only taken 16 shots with 11 on frame to score her half dozen goals. Sophia Grenz has been the only keeper for the Bulldogs and has put in 1,019:13 on the goal line. Grenz has made 51 saves while giving up 13 scores.
 
PEACOCK CLOSE UP… Upper Iowa dropped a pair of matches on the road last weekend at Wayne State 1-0 and Augustana 2-0 after the team posted seven points to their conference tally in three straight matches thanks to wins over Minnesota Crookston and Northern State around a tie with MSU Moorhead. UIU has scored 8 goals this season in split evenly between the first and second halves. Haley Ramberg and Facienne Graham have combined for 5 goals and an assist, with Ramberg finding the back of the net three times and Graham beating the keeper twice and assisting on a goal. Katie Samuels, Aimee Kemper and Emma Fellowes have scored the other three goals, while Jessica Kron and Jayna Morikawa each recorded assists. Natalie Rudrud has been on the goal line for Upper Iowa for 1,035 minutes and has made 89 saves while allowing 16 goals.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET… Last season, the Peacocks had a good weekend at home against the Huskies and Bulldogs. UIU tied SCSU 1-1 and defeated UMD 1-0 to pick up 4 points in the standings. Both the Peacocks and Huskies scored goals in the final third of the match. Upper Iowa's Katie Samuels struck first from 25 yards away in the 71^st minute, but St. Cloud State's Maria Kass was quick to answer in the 75^th minute. In the match with UMD, Samuels struck again with a goal from 30 yards away on an assist from Jordyn Ostrowski for the match's only score. Natalie Rudrud made 20 saves over the weekend in goal for UIU.
 
UP NEXT… The Peacocks will start their final home stretch next weekend with a pair of NSIC matches at Pattison Field. Upper Iowa will host Minot State University and the University of Mary on Friday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 27. UIU's final home game will be on Friday, Nov. 1.