THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S SOCCER… Upper Iowa opens the season at Harms-Eischeid Stadium as they face Roosevelt on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. They will then travel to Kansas City, Mo. for a neutral site matchup with Fort Hays State on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m.

LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Upper Iowa offers numerous ways for you to stay connected to men's soccer this week. Webcasts and Live Stats for every game can be found at https://uiupeacocks.com/coverage.aspx and all the links will be included with this story.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES… Junior forward Mateo Rodriguez garnered All-GLVC First Team honors last season while fifth-year midfielder Daigo Adachi was named to the second team. Rodriguez led the Peacocks with six goals and he ranked second on the team with six assists. He scored two goals in a victory over Quincy and scored the dagger goal in Upper Iowa's upset over previously undefeated Indianapolis. Adachi started all 17 games in 2023, leading the Peacocks with eight assists while adding two goals. He posted two assists in a victory against St. Ambrose and put up a goal and an assist vs. both William Jewell and Lewis.
 
DEPTH IN THE NET… The Peacocks will have solid last line of defense this season as they have two juniors that started in goal during their 2023 seasons. JJ Gonzalez-Hayes appeared in nine games for the Peacocks, making eight starts. He recorded 34 saves in 734 minutes played, posting a record of 3-4-2. Camden County College transfer, Diogo Cardoso started 14 games in the net last season, where he helped lead his team to an 11-2-1 record. He recorded 82 saves, while posting a save percentage of 86.3%.
 
DEFENSIVE DUO… Junior centerbacks Dexter Garrett and Florian Deick led the Peacocks in minutes last season, as Garrett appeared in 1,395 minutes while Deick was on the field for 1,327 minutes. Garrett scored two goals in the season opener against St. Ambrose while Deick also recorded two goals on the season and added an assist in back-to-back games against Indianapolis and Lewis.
 
GOALSCORERS GALORE… Fifth-year forward Thomas Walle and senior midfielder Preston Price each scored four goals in 2023 with Walle adding two assists and Price picking up one. Walle scored a goal and assisted on another in a win over Monmouth and Price recorded a goal and an assist in another victory over St. Cloud State. Junior midfielder Wilmer Canales added two goals on the year and sophomore forward Fabio Bender dished out three assists.
 
NEWCOMERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON…

• Senior Midfielder, Nozomu Kamei | Scored 25 goals and added nine assists over three seasons with Arizona Western College
• Junior Defender, James Moody | Started 26 games over two seasons with Jamestown, scoring four goals and recording three assists
• Junior Midfielder, Alejandro Sanchez | Garnered NJCAA All-Region honors at Harcum College
• Junior Midfielder, Reilly Moore | Appeared in three games at the Division 1 level with Western Illinois

GLVC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL… UIU was picked to finish ninth in the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll, after accumulating 99 points. The poll is led by Lewis as their 185 points edged out reigning GLVC Tournament Champions, Indianapolis who accumulated 181 points. Maryville placed third in the poll after garnering 165 points.

ROOSEVELT PREVIEW… The Lakers had a very successful 2023 season as they posted an 11-6-2 record. They finished the year as the CCAC Runners-Up as they fell to Olivet Nazarene in a penalty kick shootout for the conference title. Oskar Schuster excelled in his role off the bench as he led the Lakers with four goals while also recording a team-high six assists. Davide Comai appeared in 17 matches with 14 starts where he scored three goals and two assists. Noah Vasilev and Gabriel Koenig each started all 18 games in 2023 where Koenig picked up an assist and Vasilev added two goals. In the net, Eric Carvajal recorded 42 saves over the course of 14 games and he finished the season with an 8-5 record and a 73.7% save percentage.

FORT HAYS STATE PREVIEW… The Tigers are coming off an 8-8-2 season, which came to an end in the conference tournament against a top-25 opponent in Rogers State. Elias Ovelar Semeniuk ranked second on the team with seven goals and he added two assists. Tadhg Walsh leads all returners with three assists and he also scored four goals while starting in all 18 games for a total of 1,581 minutes. Goalkeeper, Ben Dixon made 14 starts in the net where he recorded 42 saves. He finished with four shutouts on the year, finishing the season with a record of 6-7-1.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… The Peacocks will be travel to Minnesota for a meeting with St. Cloud State on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.