DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - In a repeat of last year's Iowa Conference Tournament Championship match, the Loras men's soccer team is set to write a new chapter in the storied history against Wartburg on Saturday night in Waverly.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS WARTBURG •••
Loras owns the all-time record against Warburg, 23-10-2. The two sides have been a staple at the top of the conference table, regularly meeting in the postseason.

LAST MEETING VERSUS WARTBURG •••
The two sides last met in the 2014 Iowa Conference Tournament Championship last November. In a back-and-forth affair, Wartburg opened the scoring in the 45th minute just before halftime. The single-digit margin held up until Mike Pizzello struck home the equalizer in the 78th minute. The Knights answered right back with Zubeen Azari's goal in the 80th minute. Loras refused to cave and proceeded to fight, resulting in a tying-goal from Calvin Miller in the 86th minute. Neither team broke free in extra-time and Wartburg eventually advanced on penalties, 5-4.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS •••
After a rocky start to their season, Wartburg seems to have found their stride as of late. A 2-nil setback to open conference play is the lone blemish in their last seven contests. Paris Martins and Ben Johnson headline a Wartburg offense that owns a +15 goal differential over their opponents. With seven goals each, Martins and Johnson are relied upon to drive the offense. After an early season experiement with Donald Ticknor in goal, the Knights have turned over all goalkeeping duties to Austin Boyke, who is 8-2-1 with a 0.81 goals against average and an .827 save percentage.

BACK ON TRACK WITH FURY •••
After a tough loss to UW-Whitewater, the Loras men's soccer team bounced back against Central with an offensive explosion. In the 4-nil victory, the Duhawks set season highs and tied season high offensive statistics. The shots on goal season high was 11 until Saturday when the Duhawks were credited for 14 shots on goal. Loras also posted a season-best 23 shots, topping the previous mark of 18, back from the second game of the year against St. Olaf.

IGNORING THE RANKINGS •••
Despite a competitive schedule year-in and year-out, the Duhawks have managed to stay tough against their impressive opponents. Entering last week, Loras was undefeated against ranked opponents dating back to the 2012 season. Last week's loss to No. 11 UW-Whitewater ended that streak.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE •••
The success of the Duhawk men's soccer team in the Iowa Conference has been well documented in recent years with Loras capturing at least a share of the regular season title in three straight seasons.  In addition, the Duhawks have only dropped one regular season conference match during that time period, a 2-1 defeat in 2013 to Wartburg on the road. Since that defeat, the Duhawk Men have posted an impressive 13-match conference regular season winning streak that is still ongoing thanks to two convincing conference victories against Simpson and Central so far in 2015.

SIXTH-TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN DIII •••
It's no surprise that Head Coach Dan Rothert challenges his team year in and year out to compete at the highest level. In week six of the season, Loras ranks sixth in all of Division III with an opponent win percentage of .693. The next highest school from the Iowa Conference is University of Dubuque at No. 41 with a opponent win percentage of .608. For comparison, Wartburg checks in at No. 64 with an opponent win percentage of .591.

BENCH DEPTH PROVING TO BE THE DIFFERENCE FOR DUHAWKS •••
The Loras men's soccer team have proven that making use of a deep roster can wear out opponents and provide opportunities for them to score. Senior Mike Gordon leads the Duhawks with four goals and junior Austin Jacobi is second with three. Despite not being a part of the starting XI, both players have made fantastic use of their minutes on the pitch, routinely earning scoring opportunities for either themselves or their teammates. Loras' continued use of the "next man in" philosophy will aid them as they head into the final half of the regular season.

PLENTY OF PARITY IN TOP 25 •••
Through the first weeks of the 2015 season, there has been a number of upsets and surprising results in the world of Division III soccer. For starters, 11-time National Champion Messiah College has lost three times and settled for a scoreless draw, all results that are not traditionally marks from the program and resulting in their absense from the Top 25. In the D3Soccer.com poll, the team picked as No. 1 has lost in five consecutive weeks.

EARLY BLEMISHES NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT •••
While Loras' 6-3-1 mark after 10 games is not typical of teams in the past, it speaks to the competitive scheduled that Head Coach Dan Rothert has scheduled for his team. If nothing more, these losses should allow for greater growth as the team is shown its weak areas with the hopes of improving.

GRUELING SCHEDULE AWAITS DUHAWKS IN 2015 •••
The schedule Head Coach Dan Rothert has assembled for his team in 2015 will be nothing short of grueling as it features five teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. While the team will certainly employ the "one game at a time" mentality, fans have circled numerous contests, such as their match with No. 2 Wheaton, as ones that will draw the eyes and ears of Division III soccer fans across the country. To Rothert's credit, the style has proven to be successful thanks to his teams' successes in the postseason in recent history.