The University of Illinois Springfield men's soccer opens up its 2021 season with a pair of games this week. The Prairie Stars will host Lindenwood on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Sunday 2:30 p.m. game at Missouri-St. Louis.
 
UIS has won four straight regular season games after a strong finish to the 2019 season. The Prairie Stars tied a school record for their NCAA era with nine overall victories on the year. UIS has seven starters back from that team, and the GLVC coaches picked UIS ninth in the preseason poll.
 
The top returner for UIS is 2018 all-GLVC goalkeeper Pijus Petkevicius. In two seasons, Petkevicius has a 1.18 GAA, and he has won 18 games with 13 shutouts.

Each individual GLVC school will determine their own attendance policy for men's soccer. Please check the policies of the home teams if interested in attending a contest.
 
UIS vs. Lindenwood
Date/Time/Location: Friday, February 26, 7:30 p.m. – Springfield, Ill.
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com/uis   
Live Stats: https://uisprairiestars.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
All-Time Series: UIS leads 8-7-2 (UIS leads 5-1-2 in Springfield, Ill.)
 
Lindenwood is coming off a 7-7-4 overall season last year, and it finished tied for sixth with UIS and Drury in the conference standings after a 6-5-4 mark. The Lions were seventh in the league with 1.72 goals per game, and it ranked 13^th with a 1.75 GAA.
 
The Lions were picked fifth in the preseason coaches' poll, but had just 12 more points than the Prairie Stars. Lindenwood has 15 new players, and the top returner is Joshua Scholl who had three goals and eight point in 2019.
 
In last season's matchup, Lindenwood had an early goal, but UIS tied the game in the 63^rd minute. That was the final tally as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

UIS vs. Missouri-St. Louis
Date/Time/Location: Sunday, February 28, 2:30 p.m. – St. Louis, Mo.
Streaming: unavailable on Sunday  
Live Stats: https://umsltritons.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
All-Time Series: UMSL leads 9-2-1 (UMSL leads 4-1-1 in St. Louis, Mo.)
 
Missouri-St. Louis is coming off a 6-12-0 overall season in 2019, and it finished 13^th in the GLVC with a 4-11-0 mark. The Tritons averaged 1.28 goals a game last season, and they allowed 1.72 goals a game.
 
Missouri-St. Louis was picked 11th in the GLVC preseason poll. Garrett Bass is the team's top returning offensive threat after scoring four goals and collecting two assists last year.
 
Last season in St. Louis, UIS earned a 1-0 victory over Missouri-St. Louis. The Prairie Stars defense allowed just two shots on goal, and Jay Younger scored the game-winning goal in the 31^st minute.

Up Next
UIS will be home twice the following weekend. The Prairie Stars will face McKendree on Friday, March 5. Two days later, UIS will be back at Kiwanis Stadium to take on Southern Indiana