UIC's regular season will conclude Friday afternoon at Flames Field when the team hosts Northern Kentucky at 4:00 pm.  The Flames (10-5-1, 4-2-1 HL) will look to close out a perfect home slate for the first time since 1999 against a Norse squad (10-6, 3-4 HL) that will be fighting for its conference tournament lives.

"Northern Kentucky has a very high quality attack," head coach Sean Phillips said.  "They have a 16-goal scorer and some very talented pieces around him.  That's not to say that their defense doesn't have quality; they return the Goalkeeper of the Year in the Horizon League from last year.  The key for us, and the challenge for us, will be stopping their attack, which has been a challenge for every team they've played. 

"It's going to take our best defensive effort of the season to stop their attack.  Our attacking players are going to have to turn in one of their best performances of the year as well.  If we focus on what we need to do and what we can control, and bring a blue collar mentality consistently throughout the match, we can be successful."

Last Time Out

• The Flames dropped a 4-0 decision at Charlotte last Saturday.
• It was the first time UIC has lost consecutive games this season.
• Max Todd led the Flames with four shots and three on goal.
• The 49ers set opponent highs in goals, shots on goal, and assists.
• "We've created a decent number of chances in the last couple of games, we've just been a little bit off," Phillips noted.  "When we're defending well it really sets up our attack.  That's something we've been focusing on this week."

Flames to Watch

• Max Todd leads the Horizon League in total goals in conference play.
• Todd, Markell Saddler, Jesus Perez, and Oscar Gonzalez all rank within the league's top 10 in points.
• Saddler, Gonzalez, Perez, and Cristian Sanchez are all in the Horizon League's top five in assists.
• Perez has an assist in four of the last six games.

Scouting Northern Kentucky

• Northern Kentucky lost a 2-1 overtime affair to IUPUI last weekend.  Connor Probert scored for NKU, putting a corner kick into the net.
• Alex Willis has 16 goals on the season, and is tied for the conference lead with six in Horizon League play.
• Alex Greive is one of the nation's most prolific assist men, but only three of his 11 helpers have come in conference matches.
• Jim Barkei, last year's Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year, has a .696 save percentage and a 1.59 goals against average.

Norse Nuggets

• UIC is undefeated in the brief series with NKU, holding a 2-0-1 advantage.
• The Norse got their first point against UIC in last season's 0-0 draw.
• NKU has never scored a goal against UIC.
• Two of the three matches between the teams have gone to overtime.

Statistically Speaking

• UIC is fourth in the country in total assists (41), and second in assists per game, with 2.56.  Only #1 Wake Forest has more assists per game.
• Jesus Perez is the NCAA leader with 11 total assists.  He is also first nationally in assists per game, with 0.73. 
• Max Todd ranks eighth in the nation with five game-winning goals.  He is fifth in shots on goal per game (2.13), 18th in total goals (11), and 16th in goals per game (0.73).
• UIC has the most difficult schedule in the Horizon League in the latest NCAA rankings of opponent's records.  The Flames' opponents have a cumulative .532 winning percentage, and only two of UIC's nine non-conference opponents are below .500.
• The Flames are 6-0 at home this season.

Horizon League Standings

• UIC is in a three-way tie for second place in the Horizon League, with 13 points, entering the final match of league play.
• Wright State sits in first place with 16 points.
• Northern Kentucky is currently in seventh place with nine points.
• The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the conference tournament.