The UIC Flames will face a familiar rival in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when they play Wisconsin in Madison on Thursday evening at 7:00.  The Flames are making their seventh appearance in the national tournament, and second consecutive.  UIC is riding a 12 game unbeaten streak (10-0-2) as they try for their 10^th win in NCAA play.

Despite the team's recent success, including the Horizon League tournament championship, head coach Sean Phillips is keeping his squad focused on the here and now.  "Our approach very much has to be the same it has been – focusing on being 1-0 at the end of the day on Thursday," he said.  "As you enter the NCAA tournament, you play teams of higher quality and the margin of error gets smaller.  That's what this group wants." 

Last Time Out

• UIC claimed the Horizon League Tournament championship with a 2-0 win over Green Bay on Saturday at Flames Field.
• Markell Saddler scored first, sending the rebound into the net after Abel Guzman fired a shot that was saved.  Max Todd added insurance on a free kick from 20 yards.
• Sawyer Jackman made four saves to earn his fourth shutout in the last five games.  He got help from Joel Leon, who saved a rebound shot in the 86^th minute.
• It was UIC's second straight Horizon League title, their third overall, and first won on their home field.

Flames to Watch

• Saddler scored in each of the Flames' conference tournament games and provided a spark to the offense coming off the bench in both.
• Jesus Perez, with a goal in the Horizon League semifinal, is second on the team with five goals this season.  He leads the squad with eight assists.
• Sawyer Jackman allowed just one goal in the conference tournament, and that on a penalty kick.  He has not allowed a goal during the run of play since the Green Bay contest on October 7.

Automatic NCAA Berths

• The Flames earned automatic entry into the NCAA tournament by virtue of their Horizon League tournament championship.
• This is the fifth automatic berth that UIC has earned.  The program has two additional at-large bids.
• Wisconsin is the automatic qualifier out of the Big Ten, claiming that conference's tournament championship for the second time.

Scouting the Badgers

• The Badgers' run through the Big Ten tournament took them past Maryland in a quarterfinal, 2-1; saw them rout #1 seed Michigan 4-0; and play undefeated Indiana to a draw through two overtimes.  Wisconsin won the title on penalty kicks, 4-2.
• Goalkeeper Philipp Schilling made a save in the PK shootout before scoring a kick of his own.  He was called on to make seven saves in regulation and one more in extra time.
• "We're facing a talented Wisconsin team that got some positive results lately and proved themselves to be one of the top teams in the country and deserving of hosting an NCAA tournament game," Phillips noted.
• Chris Mueller, the Badgers' leader in goals (9), assists (15), and points (33), was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Exhibition Matchup

• The teams met for an exhibition match August 19 at Flames Field.
• Max Todd scored the lone goal in a 1-0 UIC win, off an assist from Oscar Gonzalez.
• Wisconsin controlled possession for most of the final 60 minutes of play.  UIC's back line turned away their most credible advances.

Statistically Speaking

• UIC's offensive attack ranks fifth in the NCAA in shots per game (16.5) and sixth in shots on goal (7.2).
• Wisconsin is a top-20 squad in goals, averaging a flat 2.0 per match.
• Mueller is the nation's top assist maker.

Border Rivals

• The two teams have met seven times over the years, with Wisconsin holding a 5-2-0 advantage in the series.
• The most recent meeting was in 2010, a 1-0 Badger win in overtime.
• The Flames' last win over Wisconsin came in 2009 by a 3-0 score.
• The teams have played a handful of exhibition games over the last several years, giving the respective coaching staffs increased exposure to each other beyond the relationships that go back many years.
• "There's a tremendous amount of respect among the staffs, but at the same time there's also a rivalry among us," Phillips said of his staff and that of Wisconsin head coach John Trask, who led UIC for five years and hired Phillips and his crew.  "We're looking forward to the opportunity to play Wisconsin in a meaningful, high level game.  Our team is ready for the challenge and ready for the opportunity to prove themselves on a national stage."

Additional Notes

POSTSEASON HARDWARE: UIC placed five players on the All-Horizon League teams.  Redshirt senior Joel Leon and sophomore Jesus Perez were named to the First Team, junior Max Todd was a Second Team designee, and freshmen Peter Becht and Jacob Graiber earned All-Freshman Team honors.

DOUBLE DIPPING: Leon, Perez, and Todd all placed on the Horizon League All-Tournament team.  Markell Saddler joined them on the team.  Leon was named tournament MVP.

BY THE DOZEN: UIC is undefeated (10-0-2) in their last 12 games overall.  It is the best 12-game streak since 1999, when the team had 12 consecutive wins.  The 2008 squad started the season 8-0-4.  No UIC team has gone undefeated for 13 straight matches.  The Flames finished conference play unbeaten in their last seven matches (6-0-1), marking the longest stretch of Horizon League games without a loss by any team this year.

A LATE CHARGE: The Flames lost their first two Horizon League games, and at the end of September sat in sixth place with a record of 2-2.  They handed regular season champion Green Bay their only Horizon League loss as part of a 6-0-1 finish in conference competition.  On the last day of the regular season, UIC was still in contention for the #1 seed.  Ultimately the Flames settled for second place in the final standings for the second year in a row.

DOING IT AGAIN: This year's turnaround mirrored the success the Flames found in the second half of last season.  In 2016, the team started 1-5-1, just as it did this year.  Last year UIC rebounded to finish the regular season 6-2-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Horizon League Tournament.

COMMON OPPONENTS: UIC and Wisconsin played a handful of regional opponents in common.  Here is a look at how both squads fared against those teams:

Team	UIC Date/Location/Result	Wisconsin Date/Location/Result
Northwestern	Sep. 20/Away/L, 1-0	Sep. 13/Home/W, 3-1
Loyola Chicago	Oct. 3/Away/T, 1-1 (2OT)	Sep. 16/Home/W, 2-0
Wright State	Sep. 16/Home/L, 2-0	Sep. 26/Home/W, 2-1 (2OT)
Marquette	Sep. 1/Away/T, 2-2 (2OT)	Oct. 4/Home/W, 2-0
Milwaukee	Sep. 23/Away/W, 2-1	Oct. 24/Away/T, 0-0 (2OT)

 
BADGER STATE BREAKDOWN: UIC has played four matches against schools based in Wisconsin and gone undefeated (3-0-1) in them.  In addition to the games against Marquette and Milwaukee referenced above, the Flames defeated Green Bay twice.  They earned a 3-1 result in the regular season and shut out the Phoenix 2-0 in the Horizon League championship match.

WE KNOW YOU: UIC's deepest runs in the NCAA tournament came when current Wisconsin coach John Trask was their head coach.  Trask led the Flames to the Elite Eight in 2007, as well as the Sweet Sixteen in 2008 and a second round appearance in 2006.

LEAVING A LEGACY: Trask's fingerprints can still be found on the UIC program.  During his five years at the helm, he brought current Flames head coach Sean Phillips to Chicago as an assistant, and was also responsible for the hirings of Flames assistants Aleksey Korol and Minos Vlamakis.  Trask recruited Korol to Indiana, where Korol was part of two national championship teams and won Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American honors.

IRON MEN: The Cleveland State game October 21 was the Flames' sixth overtime contest of the season, giving several players another opportunity to rack up minutes.  Jacob Graiber and Joel Leon averaged over 90 minutes per match in the regular season, and each played every minute in the Horizon League tournament.

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 played at least 80 minutes in five of six games, sitting out the Bradley contest, until playing just 69 minutes against Oakland.  He took a team high six shots against IUPUI, which tied the Flames' season high.

JUGGLING THE STARTERS: Thirteen different First XI's were deployed over the 17 regular season matches.  The Green Bay match was the first time a starting lineup was reused from a previous match, and when the same lineup began the Northern Kentucky game, it marked the first time a lineup remained completely intact over two consecutive matches.  The same lineup took the field each of the last three regular season matches and in the two Horizon League tournament matches.  Twenty-one players had at least one start.  Only two players (Gonzalez, Garcia) started every match.  Jacob Graiber made his first start as a Flame at Milwaukee and has started the last twelve matches.

RETURN OF THE MAX: Three of junior Max Todd's four goals this season have been game-winners.  He scored the golden goal at 105:31 to lift the Flames past their crosstown rivals DePaul to mark the 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.  His penalty kick with just 44 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Flames the win over Cleveland State.  Todd added the insurance goal on a 79^th-minute free kick in the Horizon League championship.

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.  The Flames have averaged two goals per game over their last 12 matches.

GO WITH O.G.: Oscar Gonzalez has been a catalyst for the Flames' offense.  He leads the team in goals with six, as well as shots (59) and shots on goal (27).  He took a team-high five shots against Northwestern and also paced the Flames against Northern Illinois.  He one of seven Flames with a goal and an assist, and is second on the team with 17 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 seven assists.  He is also frequently called upon to initiate action from the corner.  He has taken a team high 54 corner kicks.  The Flames have allowed just 87 corners all season.

RACKING UP CORNER KICKS: UIC's offensive pressure has resulted in bountiful chances to take corner kicks.  The Flames are 28^th in the nation with 6.0 corner kicks per game.  They took six of the game's nine corners against Cleveland State.

MAKING HIS MARK-ELL: Junior Markell Saddler scored a goal in both Horizon League tournament games, after not putting one in the net all regular season.  His goal in the Horizon League semifinal was the first of his Flames career, and he had the game-winner in the final.  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 and added an assist at Bradley. 

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 starter against Bradley, connecting on the game's first goal.

SAWYER MAKES STOPS: Sawyer Jackman has posted a clean sheet in five of the last six games he has played.  Since the beginning of October, he has a stellar goals against average of 0.35 and a .917 save percentage.  On two occasions (Milwaukee and Loyola), he allowed no goals during the run of play (only being scored on via penalty kicks).  He 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.    

NEW FACE IN NET: Sokratis Vasilas earned his first Flames win against Bradley.  He was called upon to make two saves against the Braves.  He made his first appearance and first start in goal against Eastern Illinois.  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.  After getting some well-deserved rest in the early part of the season, he has been a fixture on the pitch, only sitting for 10 minutes over the last seven matches.  He scored his first goal of the season in the Horizon League semifinal, and made a critical save in the final minutes of the championship to keep Green Bay two goals behind.

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 fourth on the team with a .533 shot on goal percentage.

GAINING CONFIDENCE: Freshman midfielder Peter Becht has started 12 of the last 13 games and played at least 58 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.

DEFENSE STEPS UP: Cristian Sanchez played every minute of 10 of the last 12 games and has been a critical part of a back line that has allowed just 0.67 goals per game over that stretch.  When involved in the attack, he has made the most of his opportunities by putting eight of his ten shots on goal.

MAKING THE OFFENSE GO: Nestor Garcia has started every game this season, and played 1700 of a possible 1810 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.