Sept. 18, 2005
Box Score
Chicago, Ill.- Eric Cervantes' early goal off a corner kick from Pavle Dundjer proved to be the only scoring necessary for the UIC soccer team in their home opener, as the Flames survived a scrappy Eastern Illinois squad to pull out a 1-0 victory at Flames Field on Sunday.
UIC remains unbeaten at 3-0-1, while Eastern Illinois drops to 2-4-1.
Cervantes, in only his second match of the year following his return from a left knee injury, struck quickly to get the Flames on the board first by taking Dundjer's corner kick near the penalty box and swinging it past Panthers keeper Nick Alexander in the fifth minute to give UIC a 1-0 lead.
That's all the Flames needed as a tough UIC defense proved it was up to task in going head-to-head with a physical Eastern Illinois attack.
UIC goalkeeper Jeff Engelbrecht posted his third shutout in four games, making three saves. Engelbrecht kept the lead intact with a critical leaping stop of a sharp attempt by David Amdor in the 85th minute.
UIC head coach John Trask was happy to get the win but displeased with the way he felt his team got outplayed at home.
"I'm very happy for the guys to get their first home win, though I didn't think we played very well," said Trask, who saw a crowd of over 500 fans come to support the Flames in the team's home opener.
"Give Eastern Illinois credit. They made us change the way we play," said Trask. "I'm displeased that Eastern Illinois fought harder than we did."
"The difference was excellent team defending and excellent play by our bench again, particularly [Dan] Simek, [Pawel] Ligas, and [Tim] Bernard," Trask said.
"This is a whole new scenario for them," Trask said of his team's home debut following a 2-0-1 road record to begin the season. "When we were on the road the past couple weeks, we were able to change the way our opponents played. Eastern Illinois changed the way we played, and that forced us to do things at a better rate."
"We need to get faster," continued Trask. "More speed. And we've got to battle for 90 minutes to be successful."
Both teams combined for 39 fouls in a physical contest.
Dundjer now has a team-high four assists on the year, keeping his season average at one helper per game.
UIC continues a three-match homestand with their Horizon League opener against crosstown rival Loyola at Flames Field this Friday, September 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Central.
