THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS MEN'S SOCCER… 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.

BATTLE OF THE BIRDS … Upper Iowa will face off against the Ashland Eagles for just the second time in team history. Their first meeting resulted in a 2-0 loss on Oct. 6 at home. Ashland scored within the first five minutes of the match and never looked back from the early lead. The game remained scoreless for the next eighty minutes. The Peacocks defense and goalkeeper Anthony Velez did a great job of preventing the Eagles from scoring. The Upper Iowa offense lead by Italo Martins Soares got several shots on goal but were unable to score. In the 85th minute, Ashland tacked on another goal to go up to by the eventual final score of 2-0.

Ashland was 8-10-3 (4-6-2) last season. Forward Justin Libertowski led the GLIAC in goals scored (13) and points (28), he returns to Ashland for his junior season. Forward Kieran Paterson had the mosts shots on goal out of all GLIAC players in 2018. He also returns to the Eagles for his sophomore year of play. Additionally, Ashland recorded the most saves (120) as a team out of all GLIAC members during the 2018 season. So far this season Ashland is 4-8-0 (4-5-0), they went on a three game win streak after beating Upper Iowa on Oct. 6 before suffering back-to back losses in their previous two matches.

POWERFUL PANTHERS … Upper Iowa will also take on the Davenport Panthers for the second time in team history. The first match resulted in a 5-0 loss on Oct. 4 at home. The Panthers had a strong offensive attack that overpowered the Peacocks. Davenport forward Matt Whelan scored two goals in the contest while defender Eion Broughan had two assists on the day. Additionally, Davenport had two bicycle kick goals in the match to top off their impressive performance. The Peacocks had some good scoring opportunity as well including a pair of shots from Stan Cargill and Marko Cirko that just missed the net. Cargill had five shots on the day, leading the Peacocks.

Davenport was 3-12-2 (2-9-1 in GLIAC play) during the 2018 season. Davenport allowed 39 goals to score last season, the most out of all GLIAC members. Second in scoring for the Panthers during the 2018 season, forward Matt Whelan returns to Davenport for his sophomore season who has already shined for Davenport in the first contest versus Upper Iowa. Also returning for the Panthers is 2018 team leading distributor, senior forward Brayden Texer. So far this season Davenport is 6-6-0 (6-3-0).

UP NEXT … Upper Iowa will head back to Fayette to play a pair of home matches. On Friday, Nov. 1 the Peacocks will Northwood University at 2:30 p.m. Then on Sunday, Nov. 3 Upper Iowa will face Saginaw Valley State University at 2 p.m. As always, If you would like to follow along via webcast or live stats, visit UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.

TEAM LEADERS ...