The UIC Flames (4-5-2, 2-2 HL) return home for a pivotal Horizon League tilt with league-leading Green Bay (5-2-2, 4-0 HL) Saturday evening.  It's the team's annual Scarf Night with free team scarves going to the first 400 UIC students through the gates.  All students receive free admission with a valid I-card.  Kickoff at Flames Field will be at 7:00.

"Saturday gives us a chance to test ourselves against a Green Bay team that has proven to be one of the top teams in the conference this year," head coach Sean Phillips said.  "In order to get a result, we will have to continue to learn from our previous games.  We must take advantage of our opportunities and be disciplined in transition.  We also need to continue to improve defensively."

The Flames remained unbeaten in their last four games with a hard-fought draw at Loyola Tuesday night.  The Ramblers struck first on a penalty kick, but Oscar Gonzalez, the Horizon League's reigning Offensive Player of the Week, leveled the score on a free kick in the 77^th minute.  Sawyer Jackman made a save on a dangerous header at the post in the final minute of regulation, and he saved a penalty kick in overtime to preserve the tie.

The Flames continued their recent trend of increased aggression in the offensive third.  In fact, their 19 shots and six on goal were both season highs against the stout Loyola defense.  UIC moved into first place in the Horizon League and ninth in the country with its updated average of 16 shots per game.  Gonzalez and Jesus Perez are the team's offensive leaders with 14 and 10 points respectively.

Green Bay rebounded from a shutout at Cincinnati to get back in the win column with a 4-2 takedown of Oakland in their last outing on Saturday.  Audi Jepson, the Horizon League's leading points man and goal scorer, was one of four Phoenix to find the back of the net.  Nikola Kahvedzic posted his fourth win of the season. 

"It's not a surprise Green Bay is 4-0," Phillips commented.  "Coach Bonomo is a great coach and he's done some great things in his three years there.  They were tough to play at their place last year.  I felt they were a talented group but just lacked a little experience.  Now that Coach Bonomo has three of his recruiting classes on campus, you add in a healthy Audi Jepson, and that makes a team that I'm not surprised is at the top of the table."

As the league's only unbeaten and untied team, Green Bay is unsurprisingly at the top of the rankings in goals, assists, and points.  In addition to leading the Horizon League, Jepson is second in the nation in points per game with 2.25.  Tomer Zloczower is the conference's assist-per-game leader and ranks fifth nationally.

Green Bay is UIC's longest standing rival.  The teams have met 42 times since UIC's first year as a Division I program in 1981.  The Phoenix hold a 22-19-1 edge in the storied history, though the Flames have won the last six matchups.  Last year's affair was a tight, 1-0 decision for UIC on a 71^st-minute goal by Jose Fuentes.  Fuentes also had two goals against the Phoenix in 2014, when the Flames won 3-0.

Additional notes can be found below.

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, Jose Fuentes, 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 11 matches.  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 four matches.  Jaime Alonso returned to the starting lineup against Loyola.

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 (36) 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 41 corner kicks – almost as many as all Flames opponents have attempted all season (48).

RACKING UP CORNER KICKS: UIC's offensive pressure has resulted in bountiful chances to take corner kicks.  The Flames are second in the Horizon League and 27^th in the nation with 6.1 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.  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 third in the Horizon League with 3.67 saves per game and has a .702 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.

UPPING HIS MINUTES: Freshman midfielder Peter Becht has started the last five 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.

MAKING HIS MARK-ELL: Freshman 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.