THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… The Upper Iowa men's soccer team welcomes a pair of GLIAC foes to Fayette for UIU's homecoming weekend. The Peacocks will face Northern Michigan University on Friday, Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. on Pattison Field before matching up against the University of Wisconsin - Parkside on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m.

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, Friday's match is scheduled to be broadcast on KCRG-TV 9.2, while Sunday's 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 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.

COMPETING WITH THE CARDINALS... Against the 2020 GLIAC regular-season champion Cardinals, the Peacocks withstood early pressure that saw Saginaw Valley State University take the first five shots of the first half, but the only one of those attempts that was on goal came at the 2:27 mark. UIU would go on to take the next two shots as Italo Martins Soares and Alan Dunlop got good looks, but the first score of the match came from a Cardinal to give SVSU a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. Upper Iowa came out aggressively in the second half, and their pressure paid off as the Peacocks evened the score at 1-1 on a goal from Martins Soares at the 47:32 mark after an assist from Iver Nesset. The tie marked the first time that Upper Iowa has evened the score against Saginaw Valley in any of their previous matchups. However, the tie would not last long as SVSU pushed their lead back to one at the 49:13 mark. Neither team was able to get a shot off for the next 15 minutes as UIU looked to tie the score once again, but the next goal of the match was put in by the Cardinals in the 65th minute to give SVSU a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

CHOPPING DOWN NORTHWOOD... Northwood University took an early 2-0 lead over Upper Iowa with a pair of goals in a three-minute stretch between the 18th and 21st minute. Looking to turn the tide on their home pitch, the Peacocks cut their deficit in half at the 33:27 mark after Stan Cargill scored off an assist from Martins Soares. The Peacocks had a chance to tie the score with back-to-back corner kicks in the 39th minute, but the Timberwolves made a counterattack of their own that saw a shot get blocked, a shot get saved by Alonzo, and a third shot proved to be the charm as they pushed their lead to 3-1 in the 41st minute that they took into the halftime break.

Needing to flip the script in the second half to mount a comeback, Upper Iowa got into the NU box twice in the first two minutes before Dunlop crossed a ball to Cargill that found the back of the net at the 46:50 mark to bring the score within one at 3-2. UIU kept their foot on the gas as Martins Soares earned a penalty kick that he converted on to knot the score at 3-3 at the 48:08 mark. Cain Smith went for a run and drew a foul in the box at the 68:01 mark that gave him UIU's second penalty kick of the match, and like the first, this PK found its target as the Peacocks took a 4-3 lead. UIU earned a pair of corners in the 70th and 72nd minutes, and Erick Lopez found Martin Voll on the second attempt to give Upper Iowa a 5-3 in the 73rd minute that they would hold the rest of the match. The win gave Upper Iowa its first win as a program in its third year as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

COMEBACK KIDS... Upper Iowa's ability to overcome a two-goal deficit was impressive and historic. Prior to their comeback against Northwood, UIU had only ever come back from a two-goal deficit to win a match on one occasion in program history. On Oct. 4, 2013, the Peacocks overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first half against Harding University. The Peacocks scored the first goal of that match before conceding three unanswered goals to end the first half, but Upper Iowa scored three consecutive goals of their own in the second period to claim a 4-3 win. 

HIGH-FIVE FOR UIU... The five goals scored by the Peacocks against the Timberwolves were the most since a 5-1 win over the University of Mary in 2016. The last time that UIU scored four goals was in a 4-1 win over Southwest Baptist University in 2018. Five scores tie for the second-most goals in a match in program history. Upper Iowa scored five goals once in 2016, twice in 2014, twice in 2013, once in 2011, and twice in 2010. The Peacock record for goals in a match is six, and UIU has reached that total twice in their 15 seasons. The Peacocks last put six scores on the board against Cornell College on Sep. 19, 2010, in a 6-0 win, and their only other six-goal outing came in an identical 6-0 win over Waldorf University on Sep. 22, 2008.

HIGH-SCORING HALF... The Peacocks nearly tied a program record against Northwood by scoring four goals in a single half, a feat that UIU has achieved on five other occasions. Prior to these last four goals in 45 minutes, the Peacocks last scored four times in a single half on Oct. 30, 2017, in a 4-1 win over UMary. In that match, UIU scored the first three goals of the second half before allowing a score and tacking on a goal before final time. The other instances of the Peacocks scoring four goals in a half have been in unanswered fashion, as was the case against Northwood. UIU scored four straight in the first half against SWBU in 2014 in a 5-1 win, four straight in the first half against Clarke University in 2013 in a 5-0 win, and four straight in the second half against SWBU in 2013 in a 4-2 win. The Upper Iowa record for goals in a half came in 2010 when UIU scored five unanswered against Cornell College in a 6-0 win.

WITHSTANDING THE WILDCATS... Northern Michigan University comes into their matchup against the Peacocks with a 1-4-2 (1-2-1 GLIAC) record. The Wildcats are coming off a weekend in which they went 1-1 as they claimed a 1-0 win over Purdue University - Northwest before falling in a 1-0 match against Davenport University. Northern Michigan has scored just three goals this season while allowing nine, with their other two goals coming in a pair of 1-1 ties. Despite the scoring deficit, the Wildcats have tied their opponents with 87 shots while allowing just four more shots on goal (35-31). Ryan Palmbaum leads the NMU offense with one assist and is tied for the team lead with one goal, and his 31 shots lead the GLIAC. Northern Michigan was picked to finish fifth in the 2021 GLIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll following a 4-3-1 (4-3 GLIAC) record last season, and the Wildcats are currently fifth in the eight-team standings. Northern Michigan is 3-1 all-time against UIU and claimed a 2-0 win in their last matchup on Apr. 3, 2021, in Fayette.

READYING FOR THE RANGERS...  The University of Wisconsin - Parkside holds a record of 6-1-1 (3-1-0 GLIAC) on the season. The Rangers were ranked 14th in the NCAA DII Men's United Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll after a 5-0-1 start to the season, but a weekend where they went 1-1 dropped them out of the top 25 teams. UWP fell by a score of 3-2 against Davenport to open their last weekend of play before securing a 2-1 win over Purdue-Northwest in their most recent match. Wisconsin - Parkside has not been shut out this season as they average three goals per game and have outscored their opponents 24-13. The Rangers have been out-shot by a 123-102 margin, but they have put more shots on target than their opponents (59-41). The Parkside offense is led by All-GLIAC first-team forward Rade Novakovich. Novakovich's conference-best nine goals are four more than any other player, and his 24 points are ten more than the next highest total. Novakovich's six assists are only second to his teammate, Max Ludwig. Parkside was voted to finish second (three first-place votes) in the 2021 GLIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll following a 6-3 (6-2 GLIAC) record last season, and the Rangers are currently tied for third in the standings. UWP is 5-2 all-time against UIU and secured a 3-0 win in their last matchup against the Peacocks on Mar. 21, 2021. The Rangers are scheduled to face St. Cloud State prior to their matchup with the Peacocks.

LOOKING AHEAD… The Peacocks are scheduled to play a reserve match on Wednesday, Oct. 6, against Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, before seeing St. Cloud State University on Saturday, Oct. 9 in St. Cloud, Minn. for a GLIAC match at 3 p.m.

2021 Team Leaders	POINTS	GOALS	ASSISTS	SHOTS	SAVES
UPPER IOWA	Martins Soares - 12	Martins Soares - 5	Dunlop - 4	Martins Soares - 20	Prieto - 12
NORTHERN MICH.	Three tied w/ - 2	Three tied w/- 1	Palmbaum - 1	Palmbaum - 31	Vorbau - 17
WISC.-PARKSIDE	Novakovich - 24	Novakovich - 9	Ludwig - 10	Novakovich - 25	Durand - 20