Oct. 30, 2005
Box Score
Chicago, Ill.- In a crucial Horizon League match with seeding implications for the upcoming Horizon League Tournament, the UIC soccer team scored four unanswered goals to defeat Wright State, 4-1, at Flames Field on Sunday afternoon.
The victory gave UIC (10-3-2, 4-2-1 Horizon League) a tie for second place in the regular season league standings with UW-Milwaukee and the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.
Since the Panthers and Flames played to a draw on Oct. 12th to eliminate the first head-to-head tiebreaker, the second tiebreaker narrowly went in UW-Milwaukee's favor as the Panthers own a plus-six goal differential in league games. UIC has a plus-four goal differential versus league opponents.
The third-seeded Flames will now host No. 6 seed UW-Green Bay at Flames Field on Saturday, Nov. 5th in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals, with kickoff tentatively scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST.
As for the game against Wright State, a balanced UIC attack on offense and defense was the story of the day, as the Flames overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring four unanswered goals while limiting the Raiders to a mere three shots.
The victory extended the Flames' winning streak to a season-best four games while keeping their unbeaten streak intact at eight matches. UIC finished the month of October with a 7-0-1 record.
Wright State (9-9-0, 4-3-0 Horizon League) went ahead in the third minute, as Eric Johnson maneuvered his way up field and launched a shot from 20 yards out that seemed to be headed wide left. But the shot nicked the post and ricocheted past a diving Jeff Engelbrecht and into the net.
But that was the only shot the Raiders would get off in the first period, as a stout UIC defense turned away Wright State's offensive opportunities.
Almost 20 minutes after the Johnson goal, UIC answered back as Nick Sutter and Eric Cervantes set up Cesar Zambrano, who did the rest of the work with a nifty spin move that redirected a defender and allowed Zambrano to send a quick strike past WSU keeper Jason Balach for the tying score.
In the 32nd minute a driving Pawel Otachel was fouled in the box, giving UIC a penalty kick. Tonci Skroce did the honors, as the junior easily sent the ball past Balach to ripple the net and send the Flames to a 2-1 lead that held into intermission.
Skroce struck again in the 74th minute. After Pawel Ligas sent a pass to a streaking Zambrano down the sideline, Zambrano launched a pass toward the middle of the box to Skroce, who converted for the second time on the day and the eighth time of the year.
The Flames put the icing on the cake as senior Jose Guardian picked up his first career Division I point off an assist to Pavle Dundjer, who sent a shot past reserve keeper Jason Leuthhold to end the afternoon's scoring.
UIC outshot the Raiders 11-3, with a slight 6-5 corner kick advantage.
While Engelbrecht and Balach quietly picked up a save apiece, both keepers made numerous critical plays amidst crowded situations in the box.
Before the match UIC saluted five seniors. Tim Bernard, Bleri Bregu, Ross Cain, Jose Guardian and Russ Pleskunas were honored for the efforts throughout their UIC careers.
UIC closes out the regular season at perennial Midwest Region power Bradley on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
