UIC scored from every angle, setting a season high in the process, in a 4-1 win at Green Bay Wednesday night.

Emily Valentine scored twice and added an assist.  Her five points matched the program's single game record, set by Emma Main on Saturday.  Her wondrous strike from long distance opened the scoring.  She later helped on a goal from close range and converted a penalty kick.  Grace Haines and Megan Bowman added goals as well.

"I want to give credit to Green Bay," Tom Anagnost said from a cold and rainy Aldo Santaga Stadium.  "They made it very difficult for us tonight, especially in the first half.  In the end we made plays where it mattered most and that was a big part of the game.  I really like the way we responded in the second half and I'm proud of the character our team showed."

The Flames tied the program record with their fifth Horizon League win this year.  At 5-2 in conference play with two games yet to play, the team is tied for second place with the Wright State squad they defeated earlier, two points clear of Oakland.

Moments That Mattered

• Green Bay held possession in the early stages.  Defense by Jessica Christmas and keeper Lena Kurz, who closed out on a Phoenix and deflected a point-blank shot, helped defuse their initial attacks.
• Fortunes turned on a dime when the Flames pressed forward in the 14^th minute.  Tamae Douglas dropped a pass back to Emily Valentine, who teed up from beyond the left corner of the box, some 35 yards away from the goal.  Her perfectly arced strike fell just inside the far post.
• The Flames added on in quick succession.  Awarded a free kick between the circles, Valentine was at the forefront again as she served the ball into the box where a crowd had gathered.  Grace Haines headed the ball onward, past Claudia Jenese to make it 2-0.
• UIC stayed on the front foot, racking up more chances on set pieces.  Kurz made a leaping grab to end a Green Bay threat in the 29^th minute, but then Green Bay got back in the game with a 38^th-minute goal.  Savanna Hayes bumped Valentine off the ball and sent a shot on goal.  It hit the crossbar and fell straight down over the line.
• The Flames went back up by two early in the second half.  A Green Bay challenge just inside the box raked Autumn Rasmussen across the shins.  Valentine confidently stepped to the spot, and her strike left Courtney Klatt flat-footed.
• Who else but Valentine set things up for UIC's fourth goal.  She yet again served a free kick into the six-yard box where Emma Main headed it in front of the net.  Green Bay tried to clear, but with a mass of humanity gathered, the ball went just as far as Megan Bowman who slotted it to the left post.
• Kurz made her second and final save on a well-struck shot that tailed toward the left post and forced her to dive to get her hands on it.  Within five minutes, Annika Laihanen came on to relieve the starter.  She made a couple of plays during her shift but did not make any saves.
• Emily Kavanaugh had a moment of individual brilliance late in the match.  She did well to track down Sydney Gratz' through ball, and then work toward the middle of the field against Green Bay's back line.  She managed to put a shot on goal, the team's seventh and final out of nine total tries.

Facts and Figures

• UIC's starting lineup was unchanged from Saturday's win at Youngstown State.
• The Flames' season high four goal output was their highest since September 1, 2017.
• Valentine scored for the third straight match.  That tied the program record, held by Tamae Douglas and Rebecca Pallo.
• Valentine set a new career high with five points.  Her first brace was the team's fourth of the year.  She has tallied 10 points in the last three games to vault into the team lead with 12 in total.
• With two of her three shots going on goal, Valentine is on a five-game accuracy binge in which she has put nine of 11 shots on target.
• Douglas opened her account by notching her first point of the season when she assisted on Valentine's goal.
• Haines' goal was the first of her career.  She became the eighth Flame with a score on the season.
• Bowman rang up her second goal of the season.
• Following Saturday's 3-0 win at Youngstown State, the Flames set a season high with seven goals over two games.  Going back one more game, it also became a season high eight goals across three straight.
• The match was just the third of the season that did not end in a shutout.  UIC was 0-2 in previous games that saw both teams score.
• It was the Flames' first result of 2019 that did not come via shutout.
• The Flames defeated Green Bay for the fifth straight time.

Up Next

• The Flames will play just their second home game in 34 days on Sunday.
• The first of two straight at Flames Field to close out the regular season will pit UIC against Cleveland State.
• The first 150 students to arrive for the 1 pm contest will receive a pink Kicking Cancer t-shirt.