CHICAGO – UIC (2-12-1, 1-4-0 HL) returns home Saturday after more than two weeks away to go up against Youngstown State (1-10-3, 0-4-1 HL) at 7 p.m. CT at Flames Field.
 
In addition to hosting Alumni, Friends and Family Day, the match will also serve as Senior Day with the Flames recognizing Alexis Jakuszewski, Rebeca Pallo, Naomi Rushe and Jennifer Saviski prior to kickoff.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS
With four games to play in the regular season, UIC sits in seventh place with three points. The Flames still need to face three of the bottom five teams in Youngstown State (10^th), Green Bay (9^th) and Oakland (6^th) along with Northern Kentucky (2^nd). The top six teams advance to the postseason.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UIC is coming off a week long break after last facing Wright State on the road Saturday (Oct. 6). The Flames had to work from behind the entire match, and came within one goal thanks to Emily Kavanaugh, but the Raiders pulled away in the 3-1 final. UIC tallied 10 shots and put three on goal, while Tara Khayam made four saves after facing 14 shots.
 
SEASON STAT LINE
UIC has eight games this season with 10-plus shots to contribute to its season total of 141, 47 of which have been in conference play. Kavanaugh (29), Pallo (23), Tamae Douglas (14), Keri Birkenhead (14) and Emily Valentine (10) lead the team in attempts as they have put 45 of the team's 61 shots on goal. In conference action, Kavanaugh (18) stands above the rest with Pallo (7) the next in line.
 
Eleven goals have been scored by the Flames this season with four coming against Horizon League foes. Four of the tallies belong to Kavanaugh as she is one of four players in the League to have scored a leading three goals in conference action. The additional HL goal belongs to Douglas, who is the only other player on the team to have more than one goal on the year with two.
 
Goalkeeping has made the second most saves in the Horizon League this season with 85 and have had 26 come in League play. Khayam played her first conference match of the season against the Raiders while she has tallied 652 minutes on the year and owns 40 saves and a 3.86 goals-against average. Haley Leanna made up the remaining 723 minutes and has 45 stops with a 1.49 GAA.
 
SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State came away with a tie in its last match against Oakland (Oct. 6), 0-0 (2OT), to end an eight-match losing streak. Its lone win on the year came back on Aug. 26 against Canisius, 1-0, which came as an own goal and was also the last game it tallied a goal.
 
The Penguins have taken 116 shots this season with 45 on goal while 19 of the overall attempts have been against conference opponents with six being saved. Katie Hackos (13), Rasheda Abdul-Rahman (12), Samantha Mazula (12) and Lauren Snow (12) have the most attempts, with 16 of their attempts hitting the mark. A mere three goals have been scored on the year, none in League play, by Abdul-Rahman and Mazula along with the own goal.
 
Kate McEachern has played all but 315 minutes in goal for Youngstown State. With three shutouts to her name, she has made 61 saves with 37 against Horizon League foes and owns a 1.70 GAA overall with an HL mark of 1.34.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Flames have won the last two meetings with the Penguins and are 3-1-0 in the all-time series, with a perfect mark of 2-0-0 in matches played at Flames Field. Last season, UIC pulled away for a 2-1 win on the road.