Oct. 13, 2000

Box Score

The dominating play of UIC (10-2-2) was obvious in their nonconference match against Northwestern (0-12-0) at Flames Field on Friday.

That dominating play, however, did not translate into goals early on for the Flames.

"I thought about the Wisconsin-Green Bay game (a 2-0 loss)," Head Coach Sasha Begovic said. "I was thinking 'Here we go again.'"

Sophomore forward Steve Collins quickly squashed that thought by heading in a Dennis King cross pass with 2:15 left in the game to break a 1-1 deadlock and secure the 2-1 victory.

Collins, who entered late in the second half, has been battling leg problems as of late.

"Steve has had muscle spasms in his calf," Begovic said. "That only leaves him for about 15-20 minute spurts. He's not 100 percent, but he's a tremendous athlete. He has excellent speed and really works hard."

For 80 minutes UIC and Northwestern battled to a scoreless deadlock. Sophomore defenseman Joe Morelli put UIC on the board first with his first career goal at the 80:01 mark. Eric Lukin and goalkeeper Scott Greene assisted on the play.

Northwestern, however, answered a minute later as Ian Herrick headed in a Steve Jedlinski cornerkick to even the score at one.

That set the stage for Collins' acrobatic play. King dribbled the ball down the sideline and sent a long crossing pass towards Collins. Collins lunged for the ball and headed it in for the game-winner.

"We played very nice," Begovic said. "When you win like this, everyone enjoys it. But you have to give credit to Northwestern. They played their hearts out."

UIC returns to action on Sunday, Oct. 15, against Western Michigan to wrap up a five-game homestand. Game time is 3:00 p.m.