CHICAGO – The UIC women's soccer team (2-8-0, 0-1-0 HL) will take the pitch at Flames Field for the first time in nearly two weeks Saturday night when it hosts Milwaukee (9-0-1, 1-0-0 HL) at 7 p.m. CT. The day will also serve as Alumni, Friends and Family Day for the women's soccer program.
 
The Flames capped a four-game road stint last weekend when it was faced with Northern Kentucky and Drake. They first dropped their Horizon League opener to the Norse, 2-0, before going to overtime with the Bulldogs and eventually falling 2-1. UIC combined for 24 shots in the two games with Naomi Rushe scoring the lone goal. Tara Khayam played her first minutes of the season in goal and made 14 saves.
 
Just past the halfway point of the season, the Flames have put up 152 shots to rank second in the conference while they have put 62 of those attempts on goal. Keri Birkenhead (23), Olivia Everin (20), Tamae Douglas (19), Emily Valentine (17), Rushe (15) and Morgan Carey (11) lead the effort after reaching double-digit totals as Douglas owns a team-best nine shots on goal. Rushe (2) is the only Flame to have more than one goal as the team's eight on the year have been made up by seven players.
 
Khayam has played the last 182 minutes in goal and owns 14 saves after making a career-high 12 against Drake. Annie DiCanio and Kelly Fritz have both played upwards of 350 minutes and have combined for 26 saves as DiCanio owns the team's best goals-against-average of 1.25.
 
UIC is on the hunt for its first program win against Milwaukee as it is 0-3-0 in the all-time series. Last season, the Panthers took a 5-1 win while the lone match in the series played at Flames Field came in a 1-0 final.
 
Milwaukee, the 2016 Horizon League regular season champion, heads to Chicago with an undefeated record of 9-0-1. After tying with Akron in its first game of the season, it has gone on to defeat its last nine opponents, including, most recently, No. 19 Marquette. The first nine matches all came as shutouts before the Panthers gave up their first goal of the year to the Golden Eagles.
 
Milwaukee has taken a conference-leading 174 shots this season and has put 68 of them on goal, with Lourdes Onwuemeka (29) and McKaela Schmelzer (25) having the most attempts and combining for 21 shots on goal. Anna Smalley, Aubrey Krahn and Mackenzie Schill have been the top producers for the Panthers with five goals apiece and a combined eight assists as the team owns 22 goals on the year and 30 helpers, ranking fourth in the nation.
 
Goalkeeper Mallory Geurts has been one of the nation's best, ranking first in shutouts (9) and second in GAA (0.098) and save percentage (.971). In 920 minutes, she has made 32 stops with a season-high six versus Akron.