THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… The Upper Iowa University men's soccer team will conclude their 2021 regular season campaign against St. Cloud State University at home in Fayette, Iowa on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. on Pattison Field.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Live stats and a webcast for the match will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE and included with this story. The contest 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, Thursday's match is scheduled to be broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.2.

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 MEN'S SOCCER... The Peacocks split their final road weekend against the University of Wisconsin - Parkside and Northern Michigan University. The Peacocks could not weather the Rangers or the rainy conditions on Friday as they fell by a score of 5-1. UWP took an early advantage in the sixth minute and pushed their lead to 3-0 by the 17:27 mark. Carson Cajuste scored after an assist from Patrik Knudsen in the 67th minute to cut the UIU deficit to 4-1, but the Rangers finished with a 5-1 win after a hat trick and an assist from the NCAA DII's leading scorer, Rade Novakovich.

Against Northern Michigan on Sunday, the Peacocks out-shot the Wildcats by a 7-3 margin in the first half that included a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal, but NMU converted two of their attempts and secured saves on all five of UIU's on-target shots. Facing a 2-0 deficit after the first 45 minutes, Upper Iowa flipped the script in the second period. Frider Blunck scored UIU's first goal in the 50th minute before assisting on a game-tying goal from Marcus DeLeon at the 51:27 mark. Blunck continued to pace the Peacock offense with a go-ahead goal off an assist from Tate Lofdahl in the 65th minute, and Cain Smith iced the match with a goal in the 90th minute to give Upper Iowa a 4-2 win. The Wildcats out-shot the Peacocks 8-6 in the second half, but Upper Iowa converted all four of their shots on goal while Northern Michigan saw their two on-target shots get saved.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS... The Peacocks have compiled statistics this season that stack up against some of the best seasons in Upper Iowa history. UIU's 35 goals are tied for the fourth-highest total in program history, and they are five goals away from tying the record of 40 set in 2000. The Peacocks have dished out 34 assists thus far, setting a new program record after topping the previous high-water mark of 31 that was set in 2008. With their high goal and assist totals, UIU has also recorded 104 points on the year, which ranks second all-time behind the 108 points put up by the 2013 squad.

Individually, a handful of Peacocks are also moving up the all-time records:

• Italo Martins Soares - With a team-high ten goals, Martins Soares has the fourth-highest season total in program history behind Craig Signorin (12 in 2008) and Derek Oelmann (14 in 2011; 18 in 2010). The forward has added five assists to compile 25 points, which is also the fourth-best total behind Signorin and Oelmann. For his career, Martins Soares' 64 points rank third behind Signorin (73) and Oelmann (102), his 25 goals rank third behind Signorin (30) and Oelmann (44), and his 14 assists are tied will Oelmann for second behind Jacob Rasbeck (16).
• Alan Dunlop - Dunlop's team-leading eight assists are tied with Oelmann (2008) and Rasbeck (2006) for the top single-season mark in Peacock history. 
• Tate Lofdahl - Lofdahl's seven assists tie Signorin (2011) and Johnny McBeth (2015) for the fourth-highest total in a season. The forward has compiled 13 assists in his career, which is tied for fourth all-time with Signorin and Ryan Pinkerton. A 2-goal, 3-assist effort against St. Cloud saw Lofdahl tie for the most assists and second-most points (7) in a match in UIU history. Lofdahl's 33 career points are just three away from cracking the record book and tying Leandro Pena for sixth all-time.
• Stan Cargill - Cargill's seven goals rank second on this season's squad and are one behind tying Joey Gay (1999), Kyle Touchette (2004), and Ruairidh Crawford (2017) for UIU's fifth-best single-season mark. 

The Peacocks will have at least two more matches to add to their season totals as they have secured a spot in the GLIAC postseason tournament in addition to their final regular season contest against St. Cloud State.

PREPPING FOR THE POSTSEASON... The Peacocks clinched a spot in the GLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament with Sunday's win over Northern Michigan. The top six squads in the eight-team conference make it into the postseason, and the Peacocks currently rank fifth. UIU has earned 19 points thanks to six wins and one tie in conference play. Despite being within reach of Purdue University - Northwest (7-5-1 GLIAC) in third place with a win, the Peacocks are unable to jump to third given the head-to-head tiebreaker that the Pride hold over the Peacocks. Upper Iowa could swap spots with fourth-place Saginaw Valley State University (5-3-5 GLIAC) if UIU wins and SVSU either loses or ties in their match against Northwood University. If the Cardinals cannot enact revenge on a Northwood squad that beat them earlier this year and UIU takes care of business, Upper Iowa would host a first-round matchup in the postseason tournament after jumping into the fourth spot in the rankings.

SAYONARA SENIORS… Upper Iowa celebrated its nine departing seniors ahead of their penultimate home match on Oct. 17. The season and Peacock careers will be coming to a close for the following members of the 2021 senior class:

• #3, Alan Dunlop - Dunlop has started 39 of the 40 games in which he's played for the Peacocks since coming over from New College Lanarkshire. He has dished out nine career assists and scored one goal in his career, and his team-leading eight assists this season tie for the most in a single season in UIU history.
• #4, Cain Smith - Smith has started all 16 games for the Peacocks this season, playing all but 26 possible minutes along the way. In his first year of UIU action after beginning his collegiate career at Hawkeye Community College and St. Mary's University, Smith ranks third on the team with 30 shots, is tied for third with three goals, and ranks fourth with three assists.
• #7, Fabian Rummel - Rummel has appeared in nine games for the Peacocks, including six starts, since coming to UIU after going to university back home in Germany.
• #10, Italo Martins Soares - Martins Soares has started all but three of his 65 career contests. For a UIU career, his is 25 career goals and 64 points rank third all-time, and his 14 assists tie for second. He is a two-time 2nd Team All-MIAA honoree, a 2nd-Team All-Region honoree, and an All-GLIAC honorable mention.
• #11, Duarte Fonte - Fonte has appeared in 27 games for UIU, including 11 starts. His first career goal proved to be the game-winner against a top GLIAC opponent in Wisconsin-Parkside on Oct. 3, and he has also dished out two assists in his career.
• #14, Nolan Schulte - Schulte has played in 33 games as a defender for the Peacocks, making 15 starts in the process.
• #16, Emrah Suljanovic - Suljanovic has provided contributions to the Upper Iowa reserve team since coming over from the College of DuPage prior to the 2020 season.
• #22, Tate Lofdahl - Lofdahl has appeared in 74 games for the Peacocks, including 46 starts. He has recorded 10 goals, 13 assists, and 33 points. A 2-goal, 3-assist effort earlier this season saw Lofdahl tie for the most assists and second-most points in a match in UIU history.
• #26, Giuliano Roberts - Roberts has played in six matches for Upper Iowa, started four contests, and recorded an assist since coming to UIU after playing overseas.

STACKING UP AGAINST ST. CLOUD, PT. 2... St. Cloud State University comes into their matchup against the Peacocks with a 4-12-1 (3-10 GLIAC) record. The Huskies have lost their last five matches and have been outscored 9-1 over that stretch. Last weekend, SCSU was shut out 2-0 against Northern Michigan and 3-0 against Wisconsin-Parkside. St. Cloud has been outscored by a 42-23 margin and allows the second-most goals in the GLIAC at 2.42 per match. The Huskies have been out-shot 262-178, including a 130-84 deficit in shots on goal, and their 87 corner kicks rank second in the conference. Offensively, Andres Garcia's eight goals are tied for the third-most in the GLIAC and lead SCSU. Garcia and Emmanuel Iwe are tied with 16 points as Iwe leads the Huskies with 27 shots, is tied for the team-high with four assists, and ranks second with six goals. The Huskies have three goalkeepers with double-digit saves, and Gage Steiner leads the team with 44 saves and a .710 save percentage while allowing 1.98 goals per game. St. Cloud State is in their first year of men's soccer competition, and the Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the 2021 GLIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, one spot ahead of Upper Iowa. SCSU is sitting in the eighth and final spot in the conference standings ahead of their final contest. The Peacocks won the teams' inaugural meeting earlier this season by a score of 5-2 in St. Cloud, Minn.

LOOKING AHEAD… The Peacocks will continue their 2021 campaign by playing in the opening round of the GLIAC postseason tournament. The tournament runs from Monday, Nov. 8 to Sunday, Nov. 14. The Peacocks will play in the first round on Monday, Nov. 8, and the semi-finals will be played on Friday, Nov. 12 before the GLIAC Championship on Sunday, Nov. 14.
 

2021 Team Leaders	POINTS	GOALS	ASSISTS	SHOTS	SAVES
UPPER IOWA	Martins Soares - 25	Martins Soares - 10	Dunlop - 8	Martins Soares - 48	Alonzo - 31
ST. CLOUD STATE	Iwe/Garcia - 16	Garcia - 8	Iwe/Pritchard - 4	Iwe - 43	Steiner - 44