The Upper Iowa men's soccer team was unable to secure the win against Purdue University- Northwest, falling by a score of 3-1 on senior day despite taking an early lead. The Peacocks fall to 7-5 (4-5 GLIAC) on the season, while the Pride improve to a 7-5 (6-3 GLIAC) record on the year.
UIU's Itlao Martins Soares took the first shot of the match just 25 seconds into the contest as the Peacocks looked to be in an early offensive rhythm against the Pride. A Purdue-Northwest shot at the 6:49 mark forced Osvaldo Alonzo to make a nice save, and the Upper Iowa defense thwarted successive corner kicks and a shot in the eighth minute. UIU took the next two shots of the match as their offense was able to push the Pride back, and the Peacock attack pushed through at the 21:45 mark after Martins Soares and Tate Lofdahl assisted Stan Cargill to put Upper Iowa up 1-0.
Purdue-Northwest quickly evened the score with a goal of their own at the 22:59 mark, and the Peacocks were unable to reclaim their lead despite three consecutive corner kicks from the 23:56 to 24:27 marks. The only other shot on goal in the half came from UIU's Martin Voll in the 35th minute, but the Pride secured a save. The teams went into the halftime break tied 1-1, with UIU holding a 6-5 shot advantage and a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks as their offense just missed chances to convert on multiple strong attacks.
After a chippy first period, an even more physical second half saw each team miss their first shot before Purdue-Northwest's Christian Booth scored to put PNW up 2-1 at the 54:40 mark. Booth would take and make the next shot of the match at the 59:03 mark to increase the PNW lead to 3-1.
Whistles, fouls, and yellow cards disrupted the pace of play for much of the second period, and neither team was able to convert on an offensive attack despite a few chances on each side. Purdue-Northwest had two attempts bounce off the top of the crossbar and had another two saved by Alonzo, while Upper Iowa had some near misses and saw a great looking shot from Alan Dunlop get saved by PNW. The score remained 3-1 at full time as the Pride held on to win the match.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Stan Cargill sixth goal of the season put the Peacocks ahead 1-0 in the 22nd minute. His two shots and one shot on goal tied for UIU highs in the match.
- Italo Martins Soares recorded a point for Upper Iowa in his eighth consecutive match as he assisted Cargill's goal.
- Tate Lofdahl dished out an assist for the third straight match to put UIU ahead early on Cargill's score.
- Martins Soares and Lofdahl joined Alan Dunlop, Cain Smith, Fabian Rummel, Duarte Fonte, Nolan Schulte, and Giuliano Roberts as starters in the match who, along with Emrah Saljanovich, were honored as the nine Peacock seniors for senior day.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- The Peacocks outshot the Pride 6-5 in the first half, but the Pride claimed a 9-5 shot advantage in the second period and finished with a 14-11 advantage that included a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal.
- Upper Iowa earned five corner kicks in the first half while allowing just two, finishing with a 7-5 advantage in the match.
- PNW was called for five offsides infractions while UIU did not commit any.
- Purdue-Northwest was whistled for 18 fouls, including 13 in the second half, and issued three yellow cards. Upper Iowa was whistled for 12 fouls, including eight in the second period, and issued two yellow cards.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks make their way to Michigan for a pair of GLIAC contests on the road against Northwood University on Friday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. in Midland, Mich. and Saginaw Valley State University on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 12 p.m. in Saginaw, Mich.
