The Upper Iowa men's soccer team defended their home pitch and closed their regular season campaign with a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State University. The Peacocks improve to 10-6-1 (7-6-1 GLIAC) on the year, while the Huskies fall to 4-13-1 (3-11 GLIAC).
The first action of the first half did not come until the 8:04 mark as an attack from St. Cloud earned a corner kick. The opportunity went by the wayside after SCSU was called for being offside without getting a shot attempt. The Peacocks earned back-to-back corner kicks of their own in the late in the 11th minute and, the second attempt led to a shot from
Brady Drozdowski that did not miss by much.
UIU earned consecutive corners once again in the 24th minute, but they were turned away without a shot attempt. SCSU's first shot came at the 27:42 mark, but it sailed wide right. The Peacocks earned a fifth corner kick in the 38th minute but were again unable to take a shot. UIU's next attempt came in the 43rd minute as
Tate Lofdahl pushed deep into SCSU territory before delivering a nice cross to
Carson Cajuste. Cajuste headed the ball to
Nathan Stevenson, who was waiting alone in front of the net, but his shot sailed high as the score remained tied through the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, the Peacocks came out strong as Lofdahl took a shot just 23 seconds into the second period. UIU kept the pressure and the ball on the Huskies' half of the pitch and earned a corner kick leading to a shot from Patrik Knudsen in the 52nd minute that missed wide. Upper Iowa's first shot on goal in the half came on a free kick taken by
Cain Smith, but the attempt was saved by SCSU.
The Huskies took their first shot of the half in the 56th minute, but the attempt was off target. A free kick for the visitors in the 60th minute led to a shot on goal, but
Osvaldo Alonzo was there to secure the save for UIU. SCSU continued their push as a third straight shot came from St. Cloud in the 62nd minute, but the attempt sailed high.
The next shot came at the 70:56 mark as
Marcus DeLeon put a shot on goal that SCSU was able to knock away, but the shot earned a corner kick for the Peacocks. DeLeon took the corner kick and played a ball into the box that found the head of Drozdowski, and the defender put the ball in the back of the net to give Upper Iowa a 1-0 lead at the 72:34 mark.
Upper Iowa kept their foot firmly on the gas as they earned another corner kick just 58 seconds after the St. Cloud kickoff, but the Peacocks were unable to convert on back-to-back set pieces. The Huskies attempted to start an attack of their own, but
Erick Lopez dispossessed a SCSU player at midfield and allowed DeLeon to come up with the loose ball with a numbers advantage. DeLeon played a through ball that found
Frider Blunck streaking toward the St. Cloud goal, and he blew past the SCSU keeper who had come all the way out toward the edge of the box in an attempt to make a stop. With no keeper in the net, Blunck took a moment to get himself in position and ripped a ball past a lone SCSU defender that found the back of the net and quickly doubled the UIU lead to 2-0 at the 73:55 mark.
The Peacocks nearly tripled their lead just 30 seconds later as
Paal Vistnes scorched a shot past the SCSU defense, but the ball sliced wide right. Smith forced another save with a shot on goal in the 79th minute that led to a UIU corner kick, but the Peacocks could not add to their lead. On a counterattack, the Huskies got deep into Peacock territory and cut their deficit in half with a goal at the 80:12 mark.
UIU would only concede one more shot to SCSU on an attempt that missed high and wide in the 83rd minute, and the Peacocks held on to clinch the 2-1 win on Pattison Field.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Brady Drozdowski scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal in the 73rd minute while also playing the full 90 minutes for the Peacocks.
- Marcus DeLeon dished out assists on each UIU goal while also putting his lone shot on goal and playing 58 minutes off the bench.
- Frider Blunck scored his third goal in the last two matches to increase the Peacock lead to 2-0 as he converted his only shot attempt.
- Daniel Pranger and Paal Vistnes played full time for an Upper Iowa defense that held SCSU to just two shots on goal.
- Cain Smith led the match with two shots on goal on his pair of shot attempts.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- The first half ended with just two shots from UIU and one from SCSU with none of the attempts being on target. In the second period, UIU out-shot SCSU by a 9-5 margin that included a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.
- The Peacocks earned a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks in each half to finish the match with a 10-2 mark over SCSU.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks will continue their 2021 campaign against Purdue University - Northwest in the opening round of the GLIAC postseason tournament on Monday, Nov. 8 in Hammond, Ind.
