Upper Iowa was unable to overcome their 1-0 halftime deficit, losing a very important game to the Lewis Flyers 3-2 on Senior Day.
While the Peacocks scored two-minutes into their previous game, the exact opposite happened as the Peacocks allowed their first goal of the game at the two-minute mark. Sophomore forward Mikey Revell scored his first goal of the season on a shot from outside of the box that was just out of reach for senior keeper
Archie Watts. UIU answered with a great lob pass downfield to senior
Frider Blunck. Blunck's bullet shot was blocked by the keeper, who came way outside his net to stop the shot. Watts' lone save of the half came in the 36
th minute when he made a great diving deflection. Senior midfielder
Patrick Carney took a shot on goal on the very next possession to try and even the game, but his shot was saved. Upper Iowa would go into the half down 1-0.
Watts quickly made his second diving save a minute into the second half, before the Peacocks would dominate possession over the next few minutes. Upper Iowa was awarded a throw-in in the 51
st minute, resulting in graduate midfielder
Daigo Adachi throwing a perfect pass to sophomore defender
Florian Deick who headed the pass to sophomore defender
Noah Gjervik who scored his first goal of the season. Deick has now assisted in back-to-back games while Adachi leads the GLVC with eight assists on the year. The Peacocks quickly stole the ball after the kickoff, and sophomore midfielder
Mateo Rodriguez dribbled downfield past the defense. He crossed the ball towards the goal to senior teammate
Frider Blunck, whose diving header just missed the goal. Blunck would later make a pass to Adachi, who took one touch from the right side of the box, before firing his shot into the top left corner of the goal. This gave the Peacocks a 2-1 lead in the 55
th minute, while Adachi scored his second goal and Blunck recorded his fifth assist this year.
Lewis would later respond with nearly the exact same play, which occurred in the 69
th minute. Junior forward Godwin Asore assisted on senior midfielder Joram Bogers shot from the right side of the field, that found the top left corner of the goal. Watts would make his third and final save of the day, which once again, was another diving deflection. Great passing by Lewis would result in them scoring their third goal of the game in the 77
th minute which was kicked in by Asore and assisted by Bogers. Chaos would ensue with only 23 seconds remaining, when Lewis' goalie was given a yellow card. The Peacocks were awarded an indirect kick from inside the box which was taken by Rodriguez. The Flyers put all 11 defenders in front of the goal forcing Rodriguez to aim for the top corner of the goal, which he barely missed. Despite a great performance to the second-best team in the conference, Upper Iowa was unable to come out with the result they were looking for, losing 3-2.
Seniors Watts, Blunck, Carney and
Federico McCants were honored after the game with applause from teammates, coaches, family and friends as they walked off the Harms-Eischeid Field for the very last time.
With the loss, the Peacocks have fallen to 10
th place in the conference which is currently keeping them out of the GLVC Postseason Tournament. Their final two road games will be very important as they take on 2-7-2 Missouri S&T in a must-win game on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. before facing 9-2-4 Maryville on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m.