Oct. 16, 2005

Box Score

Chicago, Ill.- A clutch goal from Tonci Skroce. A helping hand from Pavle Dundjer. A clean sheet from Jeff Engelbrecht.

Those three things are becoming common occurrences for the UIC soccer team in 2005, as the Flames rode a scoring connection between Dundjer and Skroce and Engelbrecht's fifth shutout of the year to down Horizon League rival Butler, 1-0, at Flames Field on Sunday afternoon.

UIC (7-3-2, 2-2-1 Horizon League) chalked up its second conference victory of the season over the Bulldogs (9-5-0, 2-3-0 Horizon League) and eclipsed its shutout total of the previous two seasons combined, with four regular season matches still left in this year's campaign.

The Flames put up the sole score of the game in the 11th minute, as Dundjer received the ball a few feet inside the top of the penalty box and served up a quick pass to Skroce, who sent it past Butler keeper Nick Hegeman to put the Flames up 1-0.

That's all UIC would need thanks to a superb performance from the entire UIC defense.

Engelbrecht, who posted one shutout as a rookie in 2004, now has five as a sophomore. He has blanked his last two opponents and allowed only three goals in his last five matches, lowering his goals against average to 0.86.

UIC Head Coach John Trask was pleased that his team gave a great effort against a quality league team in front of the home fans.

"Another hard-fought Horizon League contest," said Trask. "I thought Butler was a very good team, and it's nice to play well and earn a solid win over a quality team like Butler at home in front of our fans."

Trask applauded the season-long clutch scoring from Skroce and the recent dedication to focus by his entire squad.

"Our big No. 10 seems to find a way to have an impact on the game," said Trask. "Pavle continues to create. And our defense and Jeff Engelbrecht giving up only three goals in five games shows that the attention to detail continues to get better."

"We feel like we put ourselves in a position to be noticed," said Trask in regard to the quality showings by the Flames of late. "The next few games are crucial."

"We're really looking forward to facing DePaul. It will be great to match up with a Big East opponent."

Skroce's goal gave the junior a new single-season high for goals with five. Four of Skroce's five goals are game-winners.

After accumulating two assists as a freshman in 2004, Dundjer has quadrupled his previous single-season helper output with eight assists so far this year.

UIC stays in the city for their next match, taking a brief road trip north for a match against DePaul this Wednesday at the Blue Demons' Wish Field. Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. Central.