UIC will open defense of its Horizon League tournament championship Thursday night in Dayton, Ohio.  The second-seeded Flames (11-5-1, 5-2-1 HL) will face #5 IUPUI (5-10-3, 4-3-1 HL) in a semifinal hosted by Wright State.

IUPUI was 1-3-2 following the Flames' win in the team's regular season matchup but went on to finish Horizon League play with 13 points and tied for fourth place.  "We played them fairly early in the season when both teams were still figuring themselves out," head coach Sean Phillips said.  "We are a different team than we were on September 15, and from watching the film on IUPUI, they are an improved team.  Any time you get into knockout competition, the opponent you're playing in the semifinal has done something right to get there.

"Coach Barnett and his staff and players went into a tough place to play in Green Bay and came away with the result.  I anticipate another high level performance worthy of a postseason tournament from them Thursday.  They will be a challenge to break down defensively.  We will have to be on top of our game and maintain our balance to break them down.  They have also shown the ability to be aggressive in the counter-attack which has led to set pieces in which they have been very effective."

The Flames have won each of the last two conference tournaments, both times as the #2 seed.  UIC enters the tournament with a top-two seed for the fourth straight year, and the fifth time in the last six years.  First kick will be at 6:00 Central, following the first semifinal featuring the top-seeded Raiders and #6 Milwaukee.

Last Time Out

• The Flames topped Northern Kentucky, 3-0 on Friday.
• It was keeper Sawyer Jackman's sixth clean sheet.  He became the first Horizon League goalkeeper to shut out the Norse.
• Max Todd had a goal and an assist.
• Jacob Graiber and Oscar Gonzalez each had a goal.

Horizon League Honors

• Jesus Perez is the Horizon League Player of the Year.  He leads the nation in assists and had at least one point in 5 of his 7 league games.
• Max Todd is the conference Offensive Player of the Year.  He leads the league in goals in league play and has five game winners this year.
• Perez and Todd each made the All-Horizon League First Team.  Oscar Gonzalez, Jacob Graiber, and Sawyer Jackman made the Second Team.
• Josiah Ash and Pau Mateo placed on the All-Freshman Team.
• No school had more than UIC's seven All-Conference selections.

Scouting IUPUI

• IUPUI scored the first two goals, and got the golden goal from Yan Souza, in their 3-2 win over Green Bay in a quarterfinal Monday.
• Alan Aguilar is IUPUI's goals (5) and points (11) leader.
• The Jaguars scored a league low six goals in conference play, but led the Horizon League in save percentage.
• Quinn McCallion has an .805 save percentage and has given up 1.25 goals per 90 minutes.  He has four clean sheets on the season.

Statistically Speaking

• UIC is fifth in the country in total assists, and third in assists per game, with 2.53.  Only #1 Wake Forest and top-10 Denver have more assists per game.
• UIC's total scoring output of 34 goals is good for 19th nationally, and their 2.00 goals per game rank them 17th.  They led the Horizon League in scoring within conference games.
• UIC had the most difficult regular season schedule in the Horizon League based on the NCAA rankings of opponent's records.
• Jesus Perez is the NCAA leader with 12 total assists.  He is also first nationally in assists per game, with 0.75. 
• Max Todd ranks ninth in the nation with five game-winning goals.  He is fourth in shots on goal per game (2.19), 12th in total goals (12), and 14th in goals per game (0.75).

Jaguar Tracks

• UIC is undefeated in the brief series with IUPUI, holding a 2-0-1 advantage.
• The Flames have scored four goals in each match against IUPUI since the Jaguars joined the Horizon League last season.
• Jesus Perez scored two goals and Markell Saddler had two assists in the Flames' win over IUPUI earlier this year.
• The Flames outshot the Jaguars, 22-3 in the 4-0 win at Flames Field September 15.