CHICAGO – Having won its last two conference matches in shutout fashion, the UIC women's soccer team (4-11-0, 2-3-0 HL) aims to make it three as it heads to Youngstown, Ohio, to meet with the Penguins (4-9-1, 0-5-0 HL) Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Farmers National Bank Field.
 
Last Time Out
The Flames are coming off a week of rest after last squaring off with Detroit Mercy (Oct. 14) and claiming a 3-0 win to mark back-to-back league shutouts after defeating Cleveland State (Sept. 30), 2-0. Tamae Douglas collected the game-winner while Ashlin West and Emily Valentine also scored, as Olivia Everin and Valentine added assists. In goal, Annie DiCanio and Tara Khayam shared the shutout while combining for five saves.
 
Player of the Week
Douglas was awarded for her efforts on Monday (Oct. 9) by being named the Horizon League Player of the Week for the first time in her career. Douglas picked up the third weekly accolade in program history after posting a four-point outing on the week with goals against Illinois State (Oct. 4) and UDM.
 
Four Games Remaining
UIC heads into the final stretch of the regular season seeking its first birth into the postseason, with the top six teams advancing to the Horizon League Tournament (Oct. 30 - Nov. 4). In the current standings with a 2-3-0 record, the Flames rank sixth while three of their remaining four opponents place in the 7-9 slots (Oakland, 7th; Green Bay, 8th; Youngstown State 9th).
 
Scouting the Flames
UIC is in the midst of a six-game scoring streak as it has scored nine goals in the span, with Douglas and Naomi Rushe owning six of the team's 16 goals on the year with three goals apiece. In conference play alone, the Flames have scored seven times with a team-best two from Valentine. Everin has played a key role in the scoring effort as she holds three assists with two against League foes.
 
Throughout the year, UIC's shot total has ranked toward the top in the conference rankings and it currently sits in second with 204 attempts, just one of two teams with more than 200 shots, as 82 of its looks have been on goal. Everin (31), Douglas (26), Keri Birkenhead (24), Valentine (22) and Rushe (21) boast the most attempts as the group possesses more than half of the team's shots on goal with 51.
 
While DiCanio has been the go-to starting goalkeeper as of late, she will be forced to sit out Saturday's match after being issued a red card against the Titans. Khayam has played in each of the last two matches and has produced 22 saves this season while Kelly Fritz played 373 minutes earlier in the year and made 19 stops.
 
Scouting the Penguins
Youngstown State is without a win in its last nine games as it went 0-8-1 with a tie against Duquesne and conference losses versus Wright State, Northern Kentucky, Cleveland State, Oakland and IUPUI.
 
The Penguins have scored 13 goals this season while nine of the tallies came in the first five games of the season. Kyler Lum leads the drive with six goals and one in conference play, with the other two League goals going to Alison Green. The team has taken 160 shot attempts and put 63 on goal with Lum and Sammy Salatino owning a team-best 22 looks apiece and combining for 19 shots on goal.
 
Kylee Moffett has been the primary keeper for Youngstown State this season, racking up 1,113 minutes in goal and ranking third in the conference with 55 saves. Brittany Hoskins and Nicole Dembie have also made appearances and have combined for 10 saves.
 
All-Time Series
The Flames hold the advantage in the all-time series with the Penguins with a 2-1-0 record after they secured last year's meeting, 2-0. However, in matches played in Youngstown, UIC is down 0-1-0.