THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… The UIU men's soccer team will wrap up their non-conference season against Monmouth College on Wednesday, Sep. 13 at home at 7 p.m. They will then begin conference play in the GLVC for the first time ever on the road against Truman State on Sunday, Sep. 17 at 12 p.m.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… UIU 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.

UNDEFEATED UNDERDOGS… The Peacocks came into the season ranked 13^th in the GLVC Preseason Poll and they have completely silenced the doubters to start the year. They began the season with back-to-back 5-1 beatdowns over Saint Ambrose and St. Cloud State and are coming off a 1-1 tie in their most recent game against Mount Mercy. 22 different players took the field for the Peacocks, with 10 of them scoring and or assisting on at least one goal to start the season. Graduate defender Daigo Adachi leads the team with three assists, while sophomore defender Dexter Garrett, junior midfielder Frider Blunck and graduate forward Thomas Walle lead the team with two goals each. In addition to Blunck's two goals both he and sophomore midfielder David Mateo Porras Rodriguez have two assists on the season with Rodriguez also adding one goal of his own. Senior goalkeeper Archie Watts has allowed only two goals in three games, while making an incredible 16 saves to start the year.

MONMOUTH MATCHUP… Monmouth College have started the year 0-5 and they have struggled on every end of the field. The Fighting Scots lone goal of the season was scored by freshman forward Isaac Price in their 1-3 defeat against Edgewood College. They have been outscored 0-15 in their other four matches and are coming off a 0-2 loss to Coe College. Senior goalkeeper Christopher Zavala has 38 saves on the season and a save percentage of 69.1%. Monmouth fields a very young team as their three leaders in minutes are a trio of freshmen. Defender Ramon Aguilar and midfielders Logan Corgan and Kristofer Ruiz-Camarena have gotten a lot of experience to start their careers as they have played more than 400 minutes on the season.

BATTLING THE BULLDOGS… Unlike Monmouth, Truman State has only played two games to start the season where they have gone 1-1. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-1 victory over St. Cloud State (who they Peacocks defeated 5-1) after freshman forward Daniel Riazi came off the bench for a first half goal before senior forward Luke Payne scored the game winning goal in the 59^th minute. Junior midfielder Jon Buss recorded the first assist of the game and senior midfielder Sam Newton assisted on the game winning goal. Holding down the backline is junior goalkeeper Justin Olwig who has made nine saves on the year. He has recorded a save percentage of 75.0% while playing all 180 minutes to start the season. Senior midfielder Holden Potter joins him as the only other member of the team to play every minute.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… After beginning conference play on the road, the Peacocks will return to Fayette for a two-game homestand. UIU will take on Illinois-Springfield on Friday, Sep. 22 and Quincy on Sunday, Sep. 24 at 2:30 p.m. Illinois-Springfield is currently 1-1-2 while Quincy sits at 1-3 to start the year.