CHICAGO – The UIC men's soccer team (0-3-1) aggressively competed throughout the match with No. 13 Denver (3-0-1) Sunday night at Flames Field but could not come back from a deficit as it fell 2-1. Yuri Domiciano scored his first goal as a Flame on a penalty kick in the 77th minute.
 
UIC pulled up for 11 shots, marking third straight game with more than 10 shot attempts. Oscar Gonzalez led the drive with four shots, followed by Oscar Rivero with three. Gonzalez (2), Rivero and Domiciano all earned credit for the shots on goal.
 
Andrew Putna played the complete game in goal and came up with two saves, bringing his total to 13 on the year.
 
It was a battle from the start for the Flames as they were neck-and-neck with the Pioneers in possession. UIC was able to put up seven shots in the foul-heavy first half as Denver was limited to five attempts.
 
The Flames were responsible for the first few shots but sent them high from Rivero and Gonzalez. The Pioneers then had three header attempts with one forcing a save. The lone shot on goal for UIC in the half came in the 27th minute from Gonzalez.
 
In the 39th minute, Denver was positioned with a corner kick taken by Kenny Akamatsu that connected with the head of Kortne Ford for the go-ahead goal. Rivero, Fuentes and Gonzalez all had chances the remainder of the half but were blocked.
 
Into the second half, Gonzalez came out to rifle off a shot within the first two minutes that was saved. The Flames continued with the possession game and earned three corner kicks before receiving their best chance of the game as Rivero knocked in a strong header that was stopped.
 
The Pioneers claimed a 2-0 advantage in the 75th minute when the ball was carried in and passed off to the right side and sent back in to Karsten Hanlin who put it in the back of the net.
 
Just into the 77th minute, UIC was the recipient of a penalty kick after Denver was tagged with a hand ball in the box. Domiciano stepped up to take the attempt and shot it into the low left corner for the goal. It would serve as the final shot of the game for the Flames.
 
UIC remains at Flames Field as it begins Horizon League play on Saturday with a 7 p.m. CT matchup with Milwaukee.