THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER… The Peacock women's soccer team returns home for a pair of Northern Sun Conference matches this Friday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 27. Upper Iowa welcomes Minot State University on Friday at 3 p.m. and the University of Mary on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Peacocks will honor their seniors prior to the match on Sunday. UIU enters the weekend with a 2-7-4 record overall and a 2-5-3 mark in the NSIC good for 10
th place in the conference standings with nine points. Minot State comes in with a record of 3-9 overall and 3-6 in the NSIC, while UMary enters the weekend in fifth place with an overall mark of 7-2-2 and 5-2-2 against conference opponents.
LIVE OPTIONS… Fans unable to attend the matches can follow along via live stats and a webcast, links can be found at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. Both matches will also be broadcasted on KCRG-TV 9.3 (Friday) and 9.2 (Sunday) and streamed through the NSIC app on Roku and Amazon Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions.
PEACOCK ROLL CALL… Offensively, the Peacocks have stuggled to find the back of the net this season marking the scoreboard 10 times in their 13 matches.
Haley Ramberg leads the way with three goals, while
Facienne Graham and
Aimee Kemper have each beaten the goalkeeper twice.
Katie Samuels,
Victoria Sanchez and
Emma Fellowes are the other three Peacocks to score a goal. Defensively, UIU is led by a strong back line and solid goalkeeping by
Natalie Rudrud. The sophomore net minder has played 1235:51 minutes in goal for UIU grabbing 102 saves while allowing 19 goals to her opponents.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… The Beavers of Minot State are entering Friday's match on a high note after picking up two wins last weekend at home. MiSU scored three goals in each match to post a 3-1 win over the University of Sioux Falls and a 3-2 victory against Southwest Minnesota State University. The six goals scored in two matches last weekend are more goals (5) than the team notched in all ten previous matches. Junior Sofia Lewis leads Minot State in shots (39), shots on goal (20), goals (5), and total points (11). Other Beavers to score goals this season include senior Daniela Fonseca and freshmen Kelsey Pena and Anabel Noches. Melanie van Walstijn has also scored a goal while leading the team in assists with three. Senior goalie Erin Rafferty has made 61 total saves while allowing 21 scores during the 2019 campaign.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… UMary has put together a solid season to this point with only a pair of 1-0 losses to Augustana University and Bemidji State University showing on the wrong side of their results tally. The Marauders have scored multiple goals in five of their seven wins including an impressive seven goals at the University of Minnesota Crookston and four goals at Wayne State College. As impressive as their offense has been with 20 goals on the year, the defense for the Marauders has been even better. UMary has given up just three goals in their 11 matches this year. Keeper Madisyn Waltman has logged all 1045:54 in the net and picked up 50 saves. Hannah Richter leads the offense with 11 points thanks to 4 goals and 3 assists, both are team-highs. Noelle Vigneri and Patricia Martin have each scored three goals, while three more players are tied with two-goals apiece.
SENIOR SEND OFF… Six seniors are wrapping up their collegiate careers over the next few weeks at Upper Iowa. The half dozen Peacocks are made up of players that have spent between two and five seasons with the program.
Victoria Sanchez,
Mayte Van Hees,
Jayna Morikawa,
Facienne Graham,
Jessica Kron and
Molly Doran are all playing in their final games as UIU tries to extend their season into the NSIC Championships. UIU will honor the seniors prior to the match on Sunday.
LAST TIME THEY MET… Last season, the Peacocks traveled to North Dakota for the matches against the Beavers and Marauders. UIU lost to Minot State 3-0 and UMary 2-0. MiSU scored a goal in the second minute of the game and added their two insurance goals in the final ten minutes as Upper Iowa extended their attack looking for the equalizer. The Marauders scored their two goals in the first half and controlled the action claiming an 11-6 advantage in shots for the match.
UP NEXT… The Peacocks will play their final home game on Friday, Nov. 1 against the University of Sioux Falls at 12 p.m. before heading to Marshall, Minn. on Sunday, Nov. 3 for a 1 p.m. match with Southwest Minnesota State University. Upper Iowa will play the final match of the regular season on Friday, Nov. 8 at Winona State University in Winona, Minn.
