THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER… The Upper Iowa women's soccer team is set to play Augustana University on Friday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D. in their final road contest of the season before returning to Fayette and welcoming Wayne State College to Pattison Field on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 12 p.m. The Peacocks will also be celebrating a quartet of seniors on Sunday.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Live stats and a webcast for the matches will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE and included with this story. The contests will also stream live on the new NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV. Search for "NSIC Network" to find the app on your relevant device. Locally, Sunday's home match is scheduled to be broadcast on Eastern Iowa's CW 9.3.

DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM… Upper Iowa will not be printing gameday programs this season. Fans can access the interactive and digital gameday program for Sunday's match at any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The digital programs are available to fans both at our games and those at home listening to or watching the action. QR Codes will also be located around the field to scan with your cell phone's camera that will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.

LAST WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER... The Peacocks split their pair of matches last weekend as they played in two shutouts. UIU was dealt a 1-0 loss by Northern State University on Friday before a securing 2-0 win over Minnesota State University Moorhead on Sunday.

Northern State controlled the pace of play in the first half registering a 7-2 advantage in shots and a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks. Upper Iowa played well to get to halftime tied at 0-0, but the Wolves held their guests without a shot until the final three minutes of the half. Liv Wildeman narrowly missed notching the first score as she forced NSU to make a save with a shot on goal in the 45th minute and saw a shot bounce off the crossbar in the 55th minute. The Wolves took advantage of a defensive mistake as they ripped a drive from 25 yards out that found the back of the net, giving NSU a 1-0 lead at the 57:36 mark. Upper Iowa worked hard for the equalizer taking eight shots and putting four on goal over the final third of the game, but they couldn't find the back of the net despite some dangerous offensive attacks as the score remained 1-0 after full time.

Upper Iowa flipped the script in their match against MSU Moorhead as their offensive efforts earned a season-high 13 corner kicks while allowing just two to MSUM. The Peacocks had a 9-1 advantage in the first half and a 4-1 advantage in the second period, and both of the UIU goals came from a corner. Leah Willenbring played a ball into the box that Wildeman was able to play to the head of Haley Ramberg, who scored the first goal of the match at the 16:46 mark. Handling another corner kick in the 54th minute, Willenbring picked up another assist after Katie Samuels put in a header off of the UIU set piece to give Upper Iowa a 2-0 advantage at the 54:28 mark. The Peacocks held on to clinch the 2-0 shutout after full time, and they finished with a 7-6 shot advantage that saw each of UIU's seven shots being put on goal while only two of MSUM's were.

WHO'S PACING THE PEACOCKS... Haley Ramberg and Katie Samuels are tied for the UIU lead with four goals apiece. Samuels leads the Peacocks with 11 points as she has added a team-second-best three assists, and she paces the Peacocks with 30 shots. Leah Willenbring leads Upper Iowa with six assists and has dished out four over the last four matches following a two-assist performance against MSUM. Willenbring has played full time in all 13 matches in which she has played, joining Aimee Sies as the lone Peacocks to do so as Sies has played full time in each of UIU's 14 contests. Sies has also dished out an assist for UIU. Sami Reding has notched five points thanks to two goals and an assist, while Katrina Kazluski (2) is the fourth Peacock to score multiple goals this season. Toni Powsey and Liv Wildeman round out the UIU scorers having each recorded one goal and one assist. Goalkeeper Natalie Rudrud leads UIU with 44 saves and a 1.73 goals against average, and her five shutouts are tied for the fourth-highest total in the NSIC.

PREPARING FOR THE PLAYOFFS... The Peacocks are tied for eighth in the Northern Sun rankings going into their final weekend of play, and they have a chance to secure their spot in the eight-team NSIC postseason tournament with three games remaining. UIU is tied with Wayne State with 15 points in the standings, so a win over the Wildcats would go a long way given the head-to-head tiebreaker that could come into play if the teams finished with the same number of points. Both the Wildcats and Peacocks sandwich their matchup with contests against Augustana (10-3-2, 9-1-2 NSIC) and Winona State University (4-9-1, 3-8-1 NSIC). St. Cloud State University (14 points) and the University of Sioux Falls (12) points are sitting behind the Peacocks in the standings. SCSU faces Northern State (7-4-3, 6-3-3 NSIC), Minnesota Duluth (2-11-2, 2-8-2 NSIC), and MSU Moorhead (1-14, 1-11 NSIC) to finish their season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a tie. The NSIC Championships will be played from Wednesday, Nov. 10, to Sunday, Nov. 14.

VANQUISHING THE VIKINGS... Augustana University comes into their matchup against UIU with a 10-3-2 (9-1-2 NSIC) record. The Vikings have won their last seven matches and have outscored their opponents 27-3 over that span. Augustana's 36 goals are tied for second in the NSIC, and their 1.60 margin ranks third. The Vikings have out-shot their opponents 277-162, including a 154-85 advantage in shots on goal. Alexis Legg leads the Viking offense with seven goals, and her 19 points rank third in the NSIC. Sylvia Fehr leads all NCAA DII women's soccer players with 12 assists. Goalkeeper Jillian Barkus ranks third in the conference with .801 goals allowed per game, and her .855 save percentage ranks fifth. Augustana was voted to finish second (three first-place votes) in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll and currently ranks third in the standings. The Vikings were ranked eighth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Regional Rankings that were released on Oct. 27. Augustana joins Northern State (9th), Minnesota State (4th), and Bemidji State (3rd) in the Central Region rankings. The all-time series between the Peacocks and the Vikings is tied at 5-5-3, but AUGIE is 4-0-2 over the last six matchups. Augustana claimed a 2-0 win in the last meeting on Oct. 13, 2019 in Sioux Falls.

WITHSTANDING THE WILDCATS... Wayne State College enters the weekend with a record of 4-7-4 (4-5-3 NSIC). The Wildcats are 4-2-3 in their last nine matches following an 0-5-1 start to the season, but they are coming off a weekend in which they tied the University of Minnesota Duluth 1-1 before falling 1-0 against St. Cloud State in double overtime. Wayne State has been outscored 23-18 and has been out-shot by a 217-163 margin that includes a 115-96 disadvantage in shots on goal. The Wildcat offense is led by Madison Kemp's four goals and Payton Haliburton's nine points and three assists. Goalkeeper Katherine Hageman's .845 save percentage ranks fourth in the NSIC, and she leads WSC with 71 saves while allowing one goal per match. The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll and currently hold the tiebreaker over UIU for the eighth spot in the conference. The Peacocks hold a 5-3-1 advantage over the Wildcats in the all-time series, but WSC has won three straight matches. Wayne State claimed a 1-0 win in their last matchup on Oct. 11, 2019 in Wayne. Wayne State is scheduled to play Winona State University (4-9-1, 3-8-1 NSIC) prior to playing the Peacocks.

LOOKING AHEAD… The Peacocks will conclude their regular season with a matchup against Winona State University in Fayette on Friday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.
 

2021 Team Leaders	POINTS	GOALS	ASSISTS	SHOTS	SAVES
UPPER IOWA	Samuels - 11	Ramberg/Samuels - 4	Willenbring - 6	Samuels - 30	Rudrud - 44
AUGUSTANA	Legg - 19	Legg - 7	Fehr - 12	Keirstead - 24	Barkus - 65
WAYNE STATE	Haliburton - 9	Kemp - 4	Haliburton - 3	Philips - 27	Hageman- 71