THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… Upper Iowa travels back to the state of Missouri for meetings with Drury and Southwest Baptist. The Peacocks go up against Drury on Friday, Sep. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Southwest Baptist on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 2:30 p.m.

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.

DEFENSIVE DYNASTY… The Peacocks have a record of 4-2-1 and are coming off an impressive 4-1 victory over Quincy University. Sophomore JJ Gonzalez-Hayes has started the past four games in goal, recording his season high eight saves in the Peacocks previous victory. The defensive line has been anchored by graduate Daigo Adachi, sophomores Florian Deick and Dexter Garrett, and most recently, junior Daniel Pranger who has started the previous two games. Adachi recorded his fifth assist of the season on a free kick that was headed in by Deick in UIU's most recent game and he leads the entire GLVC in assists. Both Deick and Garrett have scored two goals on the season.

MIGHTY MIDFIELD… UIU's midfield has been led by sophomore David Mateo Porras Rodriguez and junior Frider Blunck. Both players have three assists on the season which ranks fifth in the GLVC. Rodriguez is coming off a two-goal performance and his four goals of the season is tied for most in the GLVC with teammate, graduate forward Thomas Walle. Blunck has three goals on the season and scored once and assisted twice in a fifteen minute span in the Peacocks victory over St. Cloud State. Senior Patrick Carney and freshman Preston Price both have one goal on the season with Price picking up one assist as well. Rounding out the midfield is junior Millo Mamud who has started five out of seven games for Upper Iowa.

FANTASTIC FORWARDS… Despite the fact that he's missed on game, graduate forward Thomas Walle leads the GLVC in goals with four alongside Rodriguez while also leading the conference in shots on goal with 12. Walle scored the Peacocks first penalty kick of the season in their most recent victory and he has one assist on the year. Sophomore Fabio Bender is coming off his best game of the season as he assisted on both of Rodriguez's goals in the Peacocks 4-1 victory. Junior forward Kehinde Afolabi started his first match of the season this weekend against Illinois-Springfield appearing in 73 minutes. He has one goal on the season which was scored in the Peacocks opening game.

PREVIEW OF THE PANTHERS… The Drury Panthers have started the season 1-4-3 and are coming off their first win of the season as they defeated Missouri S&T 2-1. Sophomore goalkeeper Camden Meyer ranks second in the GLVC with 35 saves while also leading the conference in goals allowed with 13. He has saved 72.9% of opponent's shots on goal. The Panthers have six goals on the season which have all been scored by different players. A defensive duo of seniors in Jacob Schmidt and John Clout have started all eight games while both picking up one goal. Freshman midfielder Jude Rodwell is the only player on the team with a goal and an assist and he has started in four of Drury's eight games.

BOUT WITH THE BEARCATS… The Southwest Baptist Bearcats have had a pretty similar start to the season as they sit at 1-5-1 on the year. They have lost all four games against GLVC opponents and have yet to score a conference goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Dawson Sozio has recorded 28 saves ranking him 4^th in the GLVC while allowing 12 goals. He has saved 70.0% of his opponent's shots on goal. Three Bearcats have started every game highlighted by freshman forward Titouan Fraslin who has a team high two goals on the season. Graduate defender Okikiola Ojeniyi and junior defender Xavier O'Garro have also started every game while sophomore midfielder Iker Lorenzo has scored two goals on the season off the bench.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… UIU returns home for back-to-back games against 0-7 William Jewell and 2-4-1 Rockhurst. The Peacocks host William Jewell on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Rockhurst on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 2:30 p.m.