Upper Iowa fell to Wisconsin-Parkside by a 3-0 count in Sunday's match. Upper Iowa falls to 0-11-1 (0-8-1 in the GLIAC) on the year while Wisconsin-Parkside moves to 8-4-1 (8-1-1 in the GLIAC). With the win Wisconsin-Parkside remains atop the GLIAC standings.
The match was highlighted by a hat trick from sophomore forward Rade Novakovich. Two of Novakovich's goals came in the first half. The third and final goal of the game was scored two minutes into the second half. Upper Iowa also had a handful of scoring opportunities but were unable to score in the contest
Wisconsin-Parkside got on the board first in the match at the 24th minute mark. Sophomore forward Rade Novakovich was able to cut through the Peacock defense into the box and score from the right side from five yards out. Peacocks Goalkeeper Reighly Schultz was able to deflect the shot but it continued on its path to the back of the net making the game 1-0 in favor of Parkside.
Three minutes later, Rade Novakovich scored again increasing Parkside's lead to two. Novakovich again was able to work his way into the box and score from close range putting the game at 2-0 with 18 minutes remaining in the first half.
Upper Iowa had a few scoring attempts of their own but were unable to score in the first half. Italo Martins Soares had a shot in the 25th minute that just missed towards the top right of the goal. Stan Cargill had an impressive shot on target from the right side at the 42nd minute that saved by the Rangers goalkeeper Juan Gonzalez.
Wisconsin-Parkside wasted no time in the second half as they scored just two minutes into play. Senior forward Leki Prpa bended a pass into the box where he found Novakovich in position to score. Novakovich was able to score for the third time in the match, his fourth on the year putting Parkside up 3-0 at the 47th minute mark. The hat trick is the second consecutive allowed by Upper Iowa and the third on the year. The assist on the play was Prpa's fourth of the year, placing him in a tie for second place out of GLAIC competitors in that category.
Upper Iowa again had a few unsuccessful chances to score including a shot from Tate Lofdahl that missed just right of the net in the 66th minute of play. Lofdahl then had a cross in the 79th minute that just missed the head of freshman forward Tim Tilleman. Gonzalez was on the opposite end of the net leaving the goal wide open, the missed opportunity was the Peacocks best chance to score in the contest. Neither team was able to score for the last 43 minutes of play resulting in the 3-0 final.
TURNING POINT... Novakovich's first goal in the 24th minute broke things open for Parkside's offense. The team never looked back from that point on.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME... Italo Martins Soares lead the Upper Iowa offense. He had five of the team's nine shots on the day, one of which was on goal.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa was out shot 25 to nine in the match.
- Parkside had 12 shots on goal in the match while Upper Iowa had just two.
- Reighly Schultz in his debut start for the Peacocks had eight saves compared to just two made by Parkside's Gonzalez.
QUOTABLE...
- " I feel we played pretty well despite the score line. We tweaked the line up a bit and rewarded some of the guys who have been working hard. We started off brought, I thought we had a chance to get some sort of result within the first twenty minutes. Reighly got a solid hand on the first goal before we let up a quick second one. Parkside is sitting atop the standings and we enjoyed going out and competing against them. We came out and played pretty well. Its been the little mistakes that are hurting us big time. Unfortunately, we haven't been able the offense we need to offsets the mistakes made on the backline. Overall, we performed pretty well today but didn't get the luck of the bounce." - Head Coach, Willie McGowan
UP NEXT... After a three week, five game home stand the Peacocks will head east for a pair of away matches. Upper Iowa will first face off against Ashland University on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. in Ashland, Ohio. The Peacocks will then travel north to Grand Rapids, Mich. where they will have a rematch against the University of Davenport on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. If you would like to follow along via webcast or live stats, visit UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
