Sept. 27, 2013
CHICAGO - Coming off of its fourth-consecutive shutout, the UIC men's soccer team makes it way to Edwardsville, Ill., to compete in its third road contest of the season Saturday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. CT at Korte Stadium.
The Flames are back in action after collecting shutout wins against Gonzaga and IPFW at the UIC Soccer Classic Sept. 20 and 22, respectively. The Flames defeated the nationally-ranked Bulldogs, 1-0, Friday and returned to Flames Field to take down the Mastodons, 4-0, Sunday and collect a first-place finish.
Over the course of the two matches, UIC had goals scored by junior Jesus Torres (2), sophomores Jorge Alvarez (1) and Kyle Lindberg (1), and redshirt-freshman Alex Yeung, while 27 shots were taken by 12 different players. Senior Bob Novak led the team with two assists, as senior Slobodan Aleksov and Torres collected helpers as well.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Putna had strong performances in net for the Flames, making four saves against Gonzaga, while IPFW did not have a shot on goal. After earning the two shutouts, Putna improved his season GAA to 0.86. Putna was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week and was part of the All-Tournament team along with Novak, Torres and redshirt-sophomore Thomas Villamil.
Through seven games this season, UIC has tallied 81 shots, with 42 on goal for a .519 SOG percentage. Alvarez leads the team with 14 shots, seven on goal, while he, in addition to Lindberg and Torres, has three goals. Aleksov and Lindberg hold the SOG category with eight a piece after taking 13 and 11 shots, respectively.
SIU-E enters into competition Saturday with a 4-4-0 record, 0-1 at home, with wins coming against Santa Clara, 2-1 2OT, San Jose State, 2-0, SMU, 1-0, and Omaha, 1-0. In its last two games, SIU-E has fallen in shutout fashion to DePaul, 2-0, on Sept. 21 and No. 18 Louisville, 1-0, on Sept. 24.
Leading the Cougars in scoring this season is junior Christian Volesky (4), sophomore Justin Bilyeu (2) and freshman Andrew Kendall-Moulin (1), as the team has collectively taken 82 shots. Senior goalkeeper John Berner has made 24 saves during the eight contests and collected three shutouts, while allowing eight goals for a 0.98 GAA.
UIC and SIU-E have met over the last four seasons, three times in the regular season and once in exhibition. Following a draw and a 1-0 loss, the Flames have won the past two matches, with a 3-2 double-overtime win in 2011 and a 1-0 shutout in 2012 against then-ranked No. 23 SIU-E.
Saturday's match will be streamed live on SIU-E TV.
