Oct. 30, 1999

The University of Illinois at Chicago soccer team earned its first-ever Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season championship following a 4-0 victory over Detroit earlier this afternoon.

"This feels so sweet," UIC Head Coach Sasha Begovic said moments after the game. "I'm so very happy to win the conference title and this team certainly deserves it because they've worked so hard for it all season long."

The Flames, who have won 13 of their last 14 games and 17 straight at home, got a pair of goals from Eric Lukin (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and solo scores from Stein Garcia (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates) and Jeff Zych (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) to clinch their first league title in 19 years of conference play.

The victory raises UIC's record to 13-3 overall, which matches the most wins in a single season, while it also improves the Flames' MCC mark to 6-1, which is the most-ever conference wins in a single season.

Lukin, a junior who was named MCC player of the week on Monday for the third time this season, upped his league-leading scoring totals to 17 goals and 13 assists for 64 points and he is now just four points shy of becoming UIC's all-time leading scorer.

For Garcia, one of three seniors the Flames saluted this afternoon, it was his fifth goal of the year while Zych's tally was the first goal of his collegiate career.

UIC will meet #8 seed Cleveland State in the quarterfinals of the MCC Tournament, which is being played in Indianapolis, Ind., on Thursday, November 4, at 4:00 p.m. (CST). When the two squads met during the regular season, the Flames captured a 4-0 win in Cleveland.