Upper Iowa was able prevail in a 10 v. 11 situation as they shutout the Southwest Baptist Bearcats in a 2-0 victory.
The first half was arguably the quietest 45 minutes of action for the Peacocks this season, as neither team attempted a shot on goal. UIU attempted four shots to SBU's one, but both teams remained tied 0-0 at halftime.
Junior
Fabio Bender recorded the first shot on target three minutes into the half, which was saved by the Bearcats defense. Following the deflection, SBU's goalkeeper Marco Iniguez collided into the Peacocks offense as he was going for the ball. This resulted in Upper Iowa receiving a red card which forced them to play with ten players for the rest of the game. Following the play, Iniguez illegally dribbled the free kick to himself, which awarded the Peacocks an indirect kick on the left side of the box. Fifth year
Daigo Adachi dumped off a pass to junior
Alejandro Sanchez who kicked his shot into the top right corner of the goal in the 49
th minute.
Southwest Baptist had a chance to respond in the 53
rd, but their shot that was fired on target was kicked away by junior defender
James Moody. Junior defender
Dexter Garrett added another team save in the 61
st, to maintain the Peacocks 1-0 lead. Sanchez fired a shot on target in the 64
th minute, which was deflected away for a Peacock corner. Sanchez lobbed his corner kick past the SBU defense as it was headed in by freshman
Julian Mesen to boost the Peacocks lead to two. The play gave Mesen a team-high three goals on the season while Sanchez joins Adachi and junior
Emir Basar in the three-assists club.
Senior
Daniel Pranger added a forward diving header shot on goal a minute later, which was caught by Iniguez. Junior
JJ Gonzalez-Hayes garnered his first save of the game in the 76
th, on a diving attempt in the right corner of the goal. He added his second save in the 86
th minute, achieving a shutout performance in Upper Iowa's 2-0 win.
The Peacocks will look to add to their win streak as they travel to Missouri to face Lincoln on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Missouri S&T on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2:30 p.m.