Sep 5, 2013
CHICAGO - The UIC men's soccer team returns to Flames Field this weekend as it gets set to host city-rival DePaul on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and Western Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both the Blue Demons and Broncos enter into competition having each lost a pair of matches.
The Flames (0-1-0) are coming off a 1-0 loss to UC Santa Barbara last Sunday. UIC was held scoreless through two periods, but out-shot the Gauchos 6-5 and had two shots on goal registered by senior
Slobodan Aleksov and junior
Jesus Torres. Freshman goalkeeper
Andrew Putna came up with three saves and a 1.00 GAA to start the season.
"Whenever you play a team like Santa Barbara, it's the little things," head coach Sean Phillips said on the takeaways from last Sunday's game. "Whether it's the little bits of set-piece defending, defending a wall pass or overlaps, that has to get sharper and we worked on that on Tuesday and Wednesday."
DePaul is 0-2-0 this season after suffering losses to Green Bay (Aug. 30) and No. 19/22 Northwestern (Sept. 2). The Blue Demons dropped a 3-2 decision to the Phoenix and a close 1-0 (2OT) match to the Wildcats.
Junior midfielder Brandon Loncar and freshman forward Pat Flynn have scored DePaul's two goals this season, with the team making 15 attempts. Senior goalkeeper Eric Sorby has had the two starts for the Blue Demons, coming up with nine saves and tallying a 1.86 GAA.
"DePaul is a top Big East opponent for us, a city rivalry," Phillips added. "If we can get the energy, the small bits of defending a little better, and sharpen the final third pass and finish, I think we'll take the lessons from that game on Sunday."
Through two matches this season, Western Michigan is also 0-2-0 after falling 2-1 to Butler (Aug. 30) and 4-0 to Michigan State (Sept. 1). The Broncos are scheduled to take on Wisconsin on Friday evening prior to their meeting with the Flames.
Western Michigan has scored a lone goal this season by sophomore Connor Furgason, while the team has produced 18 shot attempts. Sophomore goalkeeper Chase Rau has started both contests, made three saves and holds a 4.00 GAA.
