Saturday, Oct. 29
UIC vs. Belmont - 7 p.m. CT - Live Stats

CHICAGO – The UIC men's soccer team (6-6-3, 4-2-1 HL) will close out its regular season home schedule Saturday night as Belmont (2-11-3, 1-4-2 HL) comes to town for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff at Flames Field. The night will additionally serve as Senior Night with Yuri Domiciano, Kyle Hamann, Andrew Putna, Oscar Rivero and Gonzalo Romo being honored prior to the start of the game.
 
UIC clinched its fourth Horizon League shutout of the season when it posted a 1-0 win over Valparaiso (Oct. 22) at Flames Field to move into a tie for second place in the conference standings with two games remaining. Jose Fuentes scored his fifth goal of the year as he collected his second game-winner to earn the honor of Horizon League Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Andrew Putna earned his fifth shutout after making four saves.
 
The Flames have had one of the best offensive outputs in the conference this season as they have tallied the second-most shots (234), third-most assists (17) and fourth-most goals (19), while they have the most shots (128) and second-most goals (9) and assists (9) in Horizon League play alone.
 
Max Todd ranks within the top three in the standings with six goals, six assists, 18 points and 51 shots, as 25 attempts have reached on goal. Fuentes owns the next highest totals with five goals, two assists, 12 points, 33 shots and 17 shots on goal. In conference games, Todd ranks first in assists (4) and second in shots (31) and points (8), while Fuentes has placed third in goals (3).
 
Andrew Putna has been consistent for UIC all season long and owns 42 saves, five shutouts and a 1.23 goals-against-average. His numbers in League play are even better as he has made 17 saves and sits atop the conference with four shutouts and a 0.48 GAA.
 
Belmont is coming off just its second win of the year in a 2-0 final against Oakland (Oct. 22). Aside from tying with Wright State and Green Bay, it has fallen short in each of its Horizon League matches this season with each coming as one-goal decisions.
 
The Bruins have scored 11 goals on the year from eight different players led by Jack Driscoll, Dennis Kluba and Nat Hubert with two tallies apiece, while the team has five total assists. A total of 147 shots have been taken with seven players reaching double figures, as Eli Crognale owns the most attempts with 24 and has put 14 of his chances on goal.
 
Mertcan Akar has played all but 17 minutes for Belmont this season and has made a conference-high 105 saves, nearly doubling the next goalkeeper with 54. He has picked up three shutouts, all against League opponents, while he has earned a 1.82 GAA.
 
UIC and Belmont have met just three times, all since 2013, with the Flames coming out on top in each decision. Since the Bruins joined the Horizon League in 2014, UIC has scored four goals in each of the two games.