Upper Iowa fell to Purdue University-Northwest by a 2-0 count in the final match of the 2019 season. Purdue-Northwest moves to 2-13-3 (2-9-3 in GLIAC play) on the year while Upper Iowa finishes the year with a 0-16-1 (0-13-1) record.
The two teams battled out a scoreless first half. The match seemed destined for another draw as the two teams gave each other no room to work with during the first half of play. The Peacocks and Lions first matchup in October resulted in a 3-3 tie.
Purdue-Northwest went ahead early on in the second half of play. At the 52nd minute mark, Purdue-Northwest won a corner kick. Off of the corner from senior forward Jaime Garcia obtained possession and passed the ball into the box to senior defender Grant Ugarte who got off a headshot to score on the right side of the net, putting the Lions up 1-0.
Freshman midfielder Nate Kopetsky had a chance to tie things up on a free kick in the 78th minute but the shot just missed wide right of the net. Kopetsky was in a similar situation in the first match versus Purdue-Northwest where he tied the game at three on a free kick in the 87th minute. Kopetsky had one of Upper Iowa's three shots on the day. Unfortunately, none of them found the back of the net.
Purdue-Northwest tacked on another score with just under two minutes remaining in the match. After an Upper Iowa foul, junior forward Matt Bahena scored on the left side of the net on a penalty kick for his fifth goal of the year. This put the Lions up by the eventual final score of 2-0.
TURNING POINT... Purdue-Northwest's first goal in the 52nd minute put the team ahead for the first time in the game. The team fed off this lead and carried the momentum throughout the 2-0 victory.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME... Alan Dunlop had two of the three shots Upper Iowa got off in the contest while also having a solid performance on the back line.
QUOTABLES...
"We are obviously all disappointed to lose this game as we felt we had a good opportunity to do well given our last few performances. Purdue moved the ball well and just put our players under more pressure to gain the advantage more in our defensive third."
"This has been a very tough year for the players and coaching staff this season. None of us saw this type of season developing but ultimately it has and we need to learn from it in a big way, and quickly."
"The players have put a lot of time and effort in this season without seeing the reward of winning and hopefully they can brush that off and start preparing for next season. We'll look to work hard in the off-season and come back stronger because of it. I also want to thank the players for their effort and to our parents and administration for their support throughout this season."
-Head Coach,
Willie McGowan
STATS OF THE GAME...
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Upper Iowa was out shot 19 to three in the match
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Upper Iowa goalkeepers Anthony Velez and Reighly Schultz made nine saves compared to just one from Purdue-Northwest
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Purdue-Northwest had 11 corner kicks in the game, one of which they scored on while Upper Iowa had one corner kick total
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Purdue-Northwest drew both yellow cards in the match and committed 14 fouls while Upper Iowa committed just 11 fouls and received no cards
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.
