Sept. 22, 2001
Box Score
Chicago, Ill. - The UIC soccer earned a hard-fought victory over 22nd-ranked Bradley Saturday afternoon to improve to 3-3-0 on the year while also proving that last season's win over the Braves was certainly no fluke.
UIC, which has now 18 straight contests against schools from the State of Illinois, and Bradley met up in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament last November in Peoria with the Flames squeaking out a 1-0 win on Pablo Melgar's goal in the 83rd minute.
This afternoon on UIC's home turf, with many of the same faces in action, the Flames struck first in the 27th minute as Kevin Brady (Elgin, Ill./St. Charles) headed in a corner kick by Bruno Rasich (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) just to the left of Bradley goalkeeper Nate Adams.
The Braves, however, quickly knotted the game at 1-1 as Ryan Raschke's long pass set up Sam Mills for his first goal of the season just 10 seconds after the UIC goal. The 10-second span between the two goals ranks sixth in NCAA history for the shortest amount of time between goals by opposing teams.
In the 37th minute, however, the Flames regained the lead as rookie Patrick Grange (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque) worked the ball down low and slipped past the Bradley defender. With Adams out to cut off the angle, Grange got him to commit before firing the ball into the left corner of the net for his third tally of the season.
Bradley would come right back once again to tie it up at 2-2 in the 41st minute. Pre-season All-American Hamid Mehreioskouei got past the UIC defense and beat Flames' goalkeeper Jeff Kusiciel (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) to the left for his second goal of the season.
Following the halftime break, Dennis King (Colona, Ill./United Township) gave UIC the lead for good with his fourth goal in two games and the Flames made the one-goal lead stand. Brady sent the ball down low to Josh Robinson (Elgin, Ill./St. Charles), who served it up for King's game-winning header.
Bradley, which rested many of its starters early into the second half, returned the fresh legs to the lineup midway through the period and applied pressure through much of the game's final minutes. Only two of the Braves' eight second-half shots were on goal, however, and Kusiciel finished up with four saves for UIC in his third straight victory.
UIC, which has now won three straight and its last seven at Flames Field, will return to action on Thursday, Sept. 27, when it heads to Evanston, Ill., to battle the Northwestern Wildcats at 4:00 p.m.
