The Upper Iowa men's soccer team fell by a score of 5-1 against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in a rainy match played that was played at the Pritchard Park Sports Complex in Racine, Wisc. The Peacocks drop to 8-6-1 (5-6-1 GLIAC) on the year, while the Rangers improve to 11-3-2 (8-3-1 GLIAC).
The Rangers claimed an early advantage after converting the first shot of the match and taking a 1-0 lead after 5:21 of play. Wisconsin-Parkside doubled their lead to 2-0 just seven minutes later as the NCAA DII's leading scorer, Rade Novakovich, ripped a shot into the UIU goal at the 12:25 mark. The Rangers would record the next score of the match in the 18th minute after Parkside was awarded and converted a penalty kick at the 17:27 mark.
The match saw its first seven combined shots be put on goal, but UWP saved shots by
Alan Dunlop and
Italo Martins Soares while converting three of their five on-target shots. The first half ended with Wisconsin-Parkside maintaining their 3-0 lead after UWP finished the period with an off-target shot, and UIU had two off-target shots of their own.
The Peacocks made the first dangerous attack of the second period in the 57th minute as
Tate Lofdahl smoked a shot from just inside the box and forced a diving save from the UWP goalie.
Frider Blunck ended the attack with another shot on goal after the Peacocks secured the rebound, but the Parkside defense held firm and secured another save.
In the 59th minute, UWP's Novakovich took a long pass and got behind the UIU defense to put himself in a one-on-one situation against Alonzo. Alonzo came out to challenge, but the Parkside attacker bounced the ball past the goalkeeper and scored his second goal of the match to put UWP up 4-0 at the 58:23 mark.
Upper Iowa's first goal came at the 66:19 mark after Patrik Dragesæt Knudsen intercepted a Parkside pass and played a ball to
Carson Cajuste on the right side of the box. Cajuste dribbled past a trip of Parkside defenders and laced a difficult shot across the face of the goal that found a home in the back of the net after bouncing off the top left of the crossbar to put the Peacocks on the board and cut the UIU deficit to 4-1.
Novakovich and the Rangers reclaimed their four-goal lead at the 69:13 mark after UWP goalkeeper Alexandre Durand took a free kick from a few yards into the Parkside half of midfield and played a ball in front of the UIU box that Novakovich was able to put in for his third goal, giving the Rangers a 5-1 lead.
The teams traded shots in the 88th minute as UIU's
Daniel Pranger put a shot on goal late, but UWP made the save and maintained their 5-1 advantage after full time. Wisconsin-Parkside moved into a tie for first place in the GLIAC with the win.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Carson Cajuste scored his third goal of the season in the 67th minute, converting on his lone shot after coming off the bench.
- Patrik Dragesæt Knudsen recorded his first assist of the season on Cajuste's goal.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- The teams finished with the same number of shots (9) and shots on goal (7), but Wisconsin-Parkside converted five of their seven (.714) on-target attempts while Upper Iowa converted just one (.143).
- The Rangers finished with a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks in the match.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks will end their road schedule with a matchup against Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich. on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. CST before coming home to Fayette to conclude their 2021 campaign against St. Cloud State University on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. on Pattison Field.
