EVANSTON, Ill. – The UIC men's soccer team (5-5-3) secured its fourth shutout of the season Tuesday night as it capped its non-conference slate with a 2-0 victory over Northwestern (2-9-1) at Martin Stadium. Oscar Rivero tabbed a career-high three points off the game-winning goal and an assist on insurance scored by Nestor Garcia.
 
For the sixth-straight game, the Flames outshot their opponents after racking up 18 shots to the Wildcats' 15. Garcia matched his career high with a team-best four shots, followed by Cristian Sanchez with a career-high three. Four of the attempts reached on goal for UIC with Jose Fuentes and Alex Cervantes adding to the pair from Rivero and Garcia.
 
Andrew Putna came up with three saves in the game, all in the second half, as he earned his fourth shutout to improve his season goals-against-average to 1.36.
 
The Flames recorded the first six shots of the game within the opening 20 minutes but were unable to get any of their chances on goal, as the Wildcats followed with two shots wide.
 
In the 27th minute, Max Todd sent in a corner kick that connected with the head of Rivero, who put it away for his second goal of the season and what would be his second game-winner.
 
The offensive production stayed in UIC's favor as five more shots and three corner kicks came in the following 10 minutes, with Fuentes garnering the lone shot that resulted in a save. After Northwestern recorded just its third shot of the half, Cervantes had an attempt that was stopped with two minutes remaining.
 
The Wildcats came out attacking from the start of the second half and held the Flames without an attempt while they rifled off four shots and forced Putna to make his first save of the game in the 57th minute.
 
On UIC's first shot of the half, Garcia put it in the back of the net from the top of the box after receiving a feed from Rivero for his first goal of the season and the 2-0 advantage. The physicality picked up from that point as four yellow cards were handed out after Northwestern sent three shots off the mark.
 
It was stagnant until less than 10 minutes remained, when the two teams combined for eight shots. The Flames had their three shots either blocked or sent wide while the Wildcats posted five attempts that had Putna making two saves.
 
Up next, UIC will head into the final stretch of the Horizon League season beginning with a road match Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, against the Vikings at 6 p.m. CT at Krenzler Field.