The UIC men's soccer team (5-5-2, 3-2 HL) will hit the road for a conference tilt with Northern Kentucky (6-3-3, 2-2-1 HL) Saturday afternoon.  Kickoff will be at 3:00 Central.  The Flames are tied for fourth place in the conference, and sit just one point out of third.

"I anticipate another very challenging game," head coach Sean Phillips said.  "As usual, the Horizon League race is very tight at this point in the season.  Every team is fighting tooth and nail for the remaining points on the table, and we have to do the same.  We have to continue to strive and improve from performance to performance, as we have been doing, to get our desired result on Saturday."

Last Time Out

• The Flames defeated Green Bay, 3-1, in their last outing a week ago Saturday.
• Peter Becht scored two of UIC's goals and was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week.
• Sawyer Jackman held the Phoenix, who are the highest-scoring team in the conference, without a goal for over 89 minutes.  He saved a penalty kick, and only allowed a goal on the rebound.  He was honored as the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week.

Flames to Watch

• Oscar Gonzalez leads the team with five goals and 15 points, and has at least one point in five straight matches.
• Jesus Perez is the Flames' top assist man with seven.
• Becht has four goals, all in the last four games, to place second on the squad.
• Sawyer Jackman has allowed only one goal in four of the last five matches.

About the Norse

• Northern Kentucky has also had a week off, as they come off a 2-1 loss to Oakland last Saturday.
• The Norse were issued a red card in the 30^th minute, and Oakland scored the first goal just four minutes later.
• NKU tied the contest in the 73^rd minute, but Oakland rallied to score the game-winner with just four minutes to play.
• When looking ahead to the Norse, Phillips said, "I was fully expecting Northern Kentucky to be greatly improved from last year.  Coach Riddle has a track record of taking programs and not only making them competitive in his first year but getting results."

Statistically Speaking

• The Flames lead the conference in shots (15.9) and shots on goal (6.83) per game, and are ninth and 16^th in the nation in the respective categories.
• Northern Kentucky has shut out three of their five Horizon League opponents and is at the top of the conference in goals allowed (0.77 per game).  Jim Barkei is the league's top save maker, turning away 76.5% of the shots he faces.
• Becht, Gonzalez, and Perez all rank in the top 10 in goals and points per game within Horizon League play.  Lyes Ghezali joins Gonzalez and Perez in the top six in assists per game.

A Recent Rivalry

• The Flames have played Northern Kentucky just twice, with those matchups coming in the past two years following NKU's entry into the Horizon League in 2015.
• UIC is 2-0 against the Norse.  They won last year's match, 4-0 at home, and edged Northern Kentucky 1-0 in overtime in Highland Heights in 2015.
• Jose Fuentes has two goals and an assist in the two games.  Max Todd had a goal and an assist last year.

Additional Notes

IRON MEN: The Flames played five overtime periods over their first five games, and the double overtime contest against Loyola gave several players another opportunity to rack up minutes.  To date, Oscar Gonzalez, Jesus Perez, Jacob Graiber, and Joel Leon are all averaging over 90 minutes per match.

FINALLY, SOME REST: Jose Fuentes did not come off the pitch for a single minute over the Flames' first five games.  He was subbed out in the 84^th minute against Wright State and was absent from the starting lineup for the first time all year against Northwestern.  He returned to play all 90 minutes at Milwaukee and IUPUI.  He took a team high six shots against the Jaguars, which tied the Flames' season high.

JUGGLING THE STARTERS: Eleven different First XI's have been deployed over the first 12 matches.  The Green Bay match was the first time a starting lineup was reused from a previous match.  Twenty players have at least one start.  Only three players (Gonzalez, Perez, Garcia) have started every match.  Jacob Graiber made his first start as a Flame at Milwaukee and has started the last five matches.

RETURN OF THE MAX: Junior Max Todd scored the golden goal at 105:31 to lift the Flames past their crosstown rivals DePaul.  It was Todd's first game winner of his career.  He missed the next three games but returned against Wright State and made an immediate impact, initiating the offense and getting off three shots in 24 minutes.  Todd came off the bench again versus Northern Illinois and came through with another game-winner, putting a free kick into the net in the 68^th minute.

SOME GOALS, PLEASE: Jesus Perez' first goal at Milwaukee ended a drought of 440:13 since the team's previous goal, spanning six games.  In between, the Flames were shut out for four straight games for the first time since 1996, when Green Bay, Cleveland State, Loyola, and Western Michigan blanked the Flames in succession.

GO WITH O.G.: Oscar Gonzalez has been a catalyst for the Flames' offense.  He leads the team in goals with five, as well as shots (38) and shots on goal (16).  He took a team-high five shots against Northwestern and also paced the Flames against Northern Illinois.  He one of four Flames with a goal and an assist, and is first on the team with 14 points.  His two goal performance at IUPUI was the first multi-goal game of his career, and helped earn him Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

NOT AN INSTANT REPLAY: Jesus Perez scored at 3:23 against Milwaukee, marking his first goal as a Flame, and liked it so much he scored again at 5:02.  He was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week for his feat.  It was the first time a Flame had scored twice in a match since October 31, 2015, and the fastest the team scored twice since they got two goals in 2:04 last November 4.

GET THIS MAN SOME CHEESE: Jesus Perez clearly enjoys playing in Milwaukee.  In addition to his two goals at UWM, he assisted on both Flames goals against Marquette (9/1).  He is the team's leader with six assists.  He is also frequently called upon to initiate action from the corner.  He has taken a team high 42 corner kicks – almost as many as all Flames opponents have attempted all season (58).

RACKING UP CORNER KICKS: UIC's offensive pressure has resulted in bountiful chances to take corner kicks.  The Flames are 30^th in the nation with 5.9 corner kicks per game.  They took five of the game's six corners against IUPUI.

WILLING AND ABEL: Abel Guzman is one of the Flames' goal scorers this season, striking on a penalty kick against DePaul.  He took a team high 6 shots versus the Blue Demons as the Flames rallied to win.  He also sparked the offense as a 69^th-minute sub against Loyola, creating three quality shot attempts down the stretch.

SAWYER MAKES STOPS: Sawyer Jackman made two highlight reel saves late in the game against Loyola to preserve the draw.  He stopped a 90^th-minute header right at the post, and turned away a penalty kick in overtime.  Against Green Bay, he saved a PK for the second time this season.  His heroics against the Ramblers and Phoenix earned him Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors.  On two occasions (Milwaukee and Loyola), he allowed no goals during the run of play (only being scored on via penalty kicks).  Jackman shut out #25 Butler for over 90 minutes until the Bulldogs pushed through a golden goal in overtime.  He is second in the Horizon League with 3.7 saves per game and has a .712 save percentage.

NEW FACE IN NET: Sokratis Vasilas made his first appearance and first start in goal against Eastern Illinois.  He faced only one shot on goal and allowed one goal in the game.  He also started against Northwestern and made four saves, and aggressively challenged several additional attempts via Wildcat crosses and corner kicks.

THE DEFENSE RESTS: Back Joel Leon played every minute of the Flames' first three games, helping anchor a back line that shut out then-#25 Butler during regulation, and posted a win and a draw.  Leon got some well-deserved rest during the Eastern Illinois game.  He returned to the lineup against Wright State and has played the whole 90 minutes in every game until IUPUI.

VEGA, BABY, VEGA: Ricardo Vega returned to the starting lineup against NIU.  He started the first five matches of the season but did not appear in the next three.  He was part of the back line that allowed the Huskies just five shots and a mere two on goal.

LYES COMES ON: After easing into the lineup against DePaul, freshman Lyes Ghezali started and played significant minutes in each of the next four games.  He was in the middle of the action against IUPUI, logging his first two assists in a Flames uniform.  He is third on the team with a .667 shot on goal percentage.

GAINING CONFIDENCE: Freshman midfielder Peter Becht has started the last six games and played at least 61 minutes in each one, after easing his way into the rotation the previous five outings.  He scored his first career goal against Northern Illinois and made it a tally in two straight with another goal against IUPUI.  Becht scored twice against Green Bay, making it four goals in a four game stretch, and won Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

MAKING HIS MARK-ELL: Junior Markell Saddler saw his first action of the season when he started against Detroit Mercy.  He tied for a team-high three shots, putting one on net.  He tallied the first point of his UIC career with an assist against Northern Illinois.

DEFENSE STEPS UP: Cristian Sanchez has played every minute of each of the last five games and has been a critical part of a back line that has allowed just 1.2 goals per game over that stretch.  When involved in the attack, he has made the most of his opportunities by putting seven of his eight shots on goal.

MAKING THE OFFENSE GO: Nestor Garcia has started every game this season, and played 1031 of a possible 2041 minutes.  He is a catalyst of the Flames' attack, often playing an instrumental role in transitioning the ball from the defensive third to the offensive third from his midfield spot.