By: Howie Thompson, Director of Sports Communication

Box Score

The Peacocks erased years of frustration against the Warriors of Winona State University tonight with just one goal.  Upper Iowa had lost their previous 11 soccer matches versus Winona State including three match ups in the NSIC Women's Soccer Tournament.  After tonight's 1-0 win, Upper Iowa moves into the semifinals this Thursday against St. Cloud State University.  UIU pushed the unbeaten streak to 5 straight matches with the win and is the first victory in the NSIC Tournament in five matches.

Upper Iowa headed into tonight's match as the #8 seed, but they are not a normal #8 seed.  This is a team that tied for 6th place in the conference regular season and was only one point away from tying for fourth place.

Their regular season match up with the Warriors came in the teams' first NSIC match of the season; Winona State won the contest 2-0 in Winona.  But tonight, the Peacocks were up to the challenge.

Each team only took three shots in the first half and neither scratched the scoreboard.  The home team opened up their offense a bit in the second half taking 7 shots, while UIU still only took 3 shots again. 

Upper Iowa made their shots count.  Elizabeth Kaluzinski put the gamewinning goal into the back of the net in the 77th minute.  The junior from Belvidere, Illinois cut loose a shot from the left flank that sailed over the keeper's head and found the back of the net.

Amanda Smith shut out the Warriors with the help of her defenders.  Smith made four saves.

"The team came out with a mission in their mind today," said Head Coach Brian Bahl.  He continued, "They wanted do something that hadn’t been done in the history of our program by beating Winona and moving on in the tournament. Everybody stepped up from our goalie to our defenders to the middles to our forwards up top.  It was one of our most complete games this season. We are extremely proud of the team and are really looking forward to playing against St. Cloud this Friday afternoon in the semis."

The Peacocks (9-7-3, 6-4-3 NSIC) will face the Huskies of St. Cloud State on Friday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. on the pitch at Minnesota State University, Mankato.  The teams met earlier this season in Fayette and played to a scoreless draw, 0-0.