THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS MEN'S SOCCER… The Peacocks will play their final match of the 2019 season on Thursday, Nov.7 at 1:30 p.m. versus Purdue-Northwest University in Hammond, Ind. Visit UIUPeacocks/Live to follow along via webcast.

ENTERING THE LIONS LAND… Friday's match will be just the second time in team history the two teams have faced off. Their first matchup took place earlier on this season resulting in a 3-3 draw on Oct.12 at home. The Peacocks got out to a 1-0 lead at the 35th minute mark thanks to a breakaway goal from Italo Martins Soares. Purdue-Northwest was then able to score three unanswered goals in a fifteen minute span to go up 3-1 at the 50th minute mark. Upper Iowa then had a full team effort to come back and time the game 3-3 in the double overtime game. Tate Lofdahl lessened the deficit in the 73rd minute on a close range goal after Soares and Seth Russell connected a nice chain of passes to lead Lofdahl inside the box. Freshman Nate Kopetsky then scored his first Upper Iowa career goal on a free kick in the 87th minute to tie the game at three. It was an exciting match, expect the rematch to be as well.

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 1-13-3 (1-9-3 in GLIAC play).

WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED… This past weekend Upper Iowa hosted their last two home matches of the 2019 season. On Friday, Nov.1, the team faced off against Northwood University. Upper Iowa got out to an early 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the match. Justice Johnson, in his first game of the season had an immediate impact for Upper Iowa storming down field and connecting a pass to Italo Martins Soares across the field. Soares was able to score from about 15 yards out from the left side. Northwood forward Charlie Evans scored at the 34th minute mark to even things up at one going into half. Northwood then scored again in the 68th minute when Jack Doyle found the net from 20 yards out to go up by the eventual final score of 2-1. A tough loss for Upper Iowa but a strong performance nonetheless. 

The Peacocks then played Saginaw Valley State University on Sunday afternoon. Saginaw's leading scorer Connor Rutz scored off a rebound in the 33rd minute to put the Cardinals up 1-0 in the first half. Over 45 minutes passed until Saginaw Valley scored again. It was a phenomenal performance from Upper Iowa's defense to shut down the high powered Saginaw Valley offense. Seniors Willy Duarte, James Agberotimi and Anthony Velez all had strong performances in their final home match as Upper Iowa Peacocks. Kairo Coore found the net for Saginaw in the 79th minute after drawing Velez out of the net and scoring on the left side putting SVSU up by the eventual final score of 2-0. The Peacocks performed well overall but couldn't score on any of their 12 shots on the day.

UP NEXT … The Peacocks will enter the 2019-20 offseason where the team will continue to train in order to compete in the highly competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.