THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… Upper Iowa will have their hands full as they will be facing two powerhouse teams in their final homestand of the season. They will go up against unbeaten Indianapolis on Friday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. before playing their Senior Day game against Lewis on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2:30 p.m. UIU will honor their four seniors before the match, in goalkeeper Archie Watts, forward Frider Blunck, and midfielders Patrick Carney and Federico McCants as they play their final home game in a Peacocks jersey.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Upper Iowa offers numerous ways for you to stay connected to men's soccer this week. Webcasts for every game can be found through the GLVC website at https://glvcsn.com/uiu/. Live Stats and the Webcast can be found at https://uiupeacocks.com/coverage. Both links will be included with this story.

HIGH STAKES SCENARIO… As of right now, the Peacocks are one point shy of making the GLVC Tournament so these final four games have a lot at stake. After missing the previous eight games, Watts returned from injury and started the previous two matches, recording two saves in their win over Missouri-St. Louis. Both Blunck and freshman midfielder Preston Price scored in that victory, with Carney and graduate Thomas Walle assisting on the goals. Price now has four goals on the season, while Blunck has five. He joins sophomore midfielder Mateo Rodriguez for most on the team and their five goals are the second most in the GLVC. Rodriguez alongside graduate midfielder Daigo Adachi both have six assists which is tied for second most in the conference. UIU's defensive sophomore trio of Dexter Garrett, Florian Deick and Noah Gjervik have played all 90 minutes together the previous three games.

INCREDIBLE INDIANAPOLIS… The Greyhounds have a record of 8-0-4, going 6-0-3 in GLVC play. Graduate goalkeeper Kieran Brown has been one of the best goalies in the GLVC, recording 29 saves while only allowing five goals. He has saved 85.3% of opponent's shots on goal, while only allowing .42 goals per game, which are both the second best in the GLVC. Brown is coming off three straight shutouts giving him six on the year, while never allowing more than one goal in a game. Four players have scored three goals this season, led by senior forward Michael Tselios who has five assists alongside his three goals. His five assists lead the Greyhounds while his 11 points are the fifth most in the GLVC. Sophomore forward Kabiru Gafar has two assists alongside his three goals, giving him the second most points on the team. Rounding out the three-goals club are graduate forward Owen Atkison and freshman forward Carl Ringstrom. Junior midfielder Jakob David, junior defender Pierre Lurot and sophomore defender Niklas Thanhofer have started all 12 games this season with Thanhofer scoring two goals.

LEGENDARY LEWIS… The Flyers have been nearly as good as Indianapolis this season, going 7-2-3. They field GLVC leading scorer in senior midfielder Joram Bogers who has six goals on the year. His 13 points rank second to only Mateo Rodriguez of the Peacocks, while also leading the GLVC with shots on goal with 17. Junior forward Godwin Asore has been the teams go-to playmaker, recording four assists while also scoring two goals. His best performance of the season came in a win over William Jewell where he recorded a goal and two assists. A trio of defenders in senior Justin Darlage and juniors Arturs Gorodnickis and Charles Carlback have started all 12 games in the backline while each have scored and assisted on at least one goal this season. Junior goalkeeper Sebastian Doppelhofer has allowed only six goals while making 26 saves. He has saved 81.3% of opponent's shots on target which is the 4th highest in the GLVC while allowing an average of .52 goals per game, ranking 3rd in the conference. Doppelhofer recorded five consecutive shutouts earlier this season and he leads the GLVC with seven shutouts this year.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… UIU will travel to the state of Missouri for their final two games of the season. They go up against 3-8-3 Missouri S&T on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. before playing 8-2-4 Maryville two days later on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m. The top eight teams make the GLVC Tournament and Upper Iowa is currently in 9th place. These two games will be very important as they will ultimately decide whether the Peacocks clinch a spot in the playoffs or end their 2023 season.