THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S SOCCER… The Peacocks return to Harms-Eischeid Stadium for back-to-back home meetings. Upper Iowa faces William Jewell on Friday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. at Rockhurst on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 12 p.m. The Peacocks will wear pink jerseys for Breast Cancer Awareness in their game against William Jewell, while their Sunday matchup will be Upper Iowa's Youth Day game.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Upper Iowa offers numerous ways for you to stay connected to women'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.

MAKING AN IMPACT… UIU is coming off a very competitive road-trip that saw them face the top ranked Drury Panthers. While the Peacocks lost this game, they played just as well as Drury in the second half, matching them in goals, while having more shots on goal and corner kicks. Upper Iowa is one of only two teams all season to score a goal against the Panthers. The Peacocks followed this up with a 2-2 tie against Southwest Baptist where sophomore forward Rachyl Benavides scored both goals after missing the previous three games due to injury. Benavides has three goals on the season, which is the eighth most in the GLVC. While the Peacocks have fielded all three keepers in the past three games, sophomore Isabelle Wagner played all 90 minutes in their tie against Southwest Baptist, making two saves on the day. She's averaging 4.33 saves per game, which ranks fifth in the GLVC.

DAZZLING DEFENSE…  Junior defender Chloe Jarosz has started all nine matches for Upper Iowa, and she recorded her first assist of the season in the Peacocks previous game. She has played a team-high 756 minutes on the season. Freshman defender Maile Kapualeinani Kehano joins her as the only other Peacock to start in every game, appearing in a total of 605 minutes. Freshman defender Taylor Young has played a much bigger role for the Peacocks as of recent. After appearing in three of their first six games, while playing a season high 46 minutes, Young has started and played all 90 minutes in Upper Iowa's last three games.

WINLESS WILLIAM JEWELL… The William Jewell Cardinals have started the season 0-9 and are coming off a 1-3 loss to Missouri S&T. Senior midfielder Rylie May and senior forward Kate Lawrence have started all nine games for the Cardinals with May leading the team in minutes with 670 while Lawrence has a team high two assists. Freshman midfielder Anya Lindstrom and sophomore midfielder Anea Bemo both have a goal and assist on the year, while Linstrom attempted a team high 10 shots in their loss to Lewis University. Freshman goalkeeper Jenna Skeeters leads the GLVC with 6.00 saves per game, while allowing an average of 2.88 goals per game. She currently has a save percentage of 70.6%.

REMATCH WITH ROCKHURST… The Rockhurst Hawks have had a much better start to the season as they are 4-4-2 with a 2-3-1 conference record. The Peacocks faced the Hawks in a non-conference match last season, winning 1-0 on a goal from Benavides. Eight players have started all ten games, highlighted by sophomore forward Anna Lantz. Lantz has scored four goals and three assists, leading the team in both categories. Her four goals are tied for third most in the GLVC while her three assists are tied for second most in the conference. Lantz also has 19 shots on goal which is three more than anyone else in the GLVC. Senior defender Halle Mallum has picked up two assists on the season while junior midfielder Gabby Hennessy and freshman midfielder Jacie Tottleben have scored twice. Freshman midfielder Caitlyn Smith has one goal and assist on the year, which both came in their 3-2 victory over Missouri Western State. Junior goalkeeper Taylor James has started all ten games and has five shutouts on the season, which is second most in the GLVC. She has 21 saves on the season, while only allowing seven goals.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… Following their homestand, Upper Iowa will have back-to-back games on the road. The Peacocks will face Missouri-St. Louis on Friday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. and McKendree on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 12 p.m. Both teams have had very successful starts to the season as Missouri-St. Louis is currently 4-2-3 while McKendree is 5-1-3.