Saturday, Oct. 15
UIC at Cleveland State - 6 p.m. CT - ESPN3 | Live Stats

CHICAGO – The UIC men's soccer team (5-5-3, 3-1-1 HL) prepares for its first of four remaining games in the regular season as it is set for a Saturday matchup at Cleveland State (4-6-2, 2-1-2 HL) with kickoff at 6 p.m. CT at Krenzler Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Flames are currently positioned in a tie for second place in the Horizon League standings with Wright State and Milwaukee behind Valparaiso.
 
UIC capped its non-conference schedule this past Tuesday (Oct. 11) with its fourth shutout of the season in a 2-0 final at Northwestern to improve to 4-0-2 over the last six games. Oscar Rivero pulled up for three points in the game after collecting his second game-winner of the season and adding the assist on Nestor Garcia's tally. Max Todd additionally assisted on Rivero's goal to continue a six-game point streak.
 
The Flames have produced the fourth-most goals in the conference this season with 18 as 10 are made up by Todd (6) and Jose Fuentes (4). Todd leads the team and the Horizon League with six of UIC's 16 assists as he has totaled 18 points to rank second. He additionally paces the team with 38 shots and 19 on goal, followed by Fuentes (29) and Oscar Gonzalez (26) to aid in the 193 total attempts.
 
Andrew Putna owns a conference-best four shutouts on the year as he has produced 33 saves and a 1.36 goals-against-average in 1,063 minutes of game action. In Horizon League games alone, Putna has allowed just two goals for a 0.47 GAA, which ranks first among League goalkeepers.
 
Cleveland State has gone 0-3-2 in its last five games with a most recent scoreless draw against Northern Kentucky (Oct. 8). It two conference wins came against its first two opponents in Belmont, 2-1, and Detroit, 3-1.
 
The Vikings have scored 12 goals led by Lawrence Karpeh (4) and Hesham Hammouda (3), and have added 11 assists with Jake Lagania at the top with four. Of the 171 shots, Hammouda (29), Lagania (26), Kevin Blackwood (25) and Karpeh (21) make up more than half, with Hammouda (13), Blackwood (10) and Karpeh (10) having the most attempts on goal.
 
Alekander Drobac (0.97 GAA) and Sebastian Kalk (1.08 GAA) have split the starts for Cleveland State and have played nearly the same amount of minutes, while Drobac's GAA ranks as the best in the Horizon League. With one shutout apiece, Kalk leads with 31 saves as Drobac owns 24.
 
The Flames are 14-19-4 in the all-time series with the Vikings and 4-8-3 in games played on the road. Last season at home, UIC fell in a 1-0 final.