UIC concluded the best regular season in program history with a 2-0 win over Oakland on Senior Night at Flames Field.

The Flames (11-5-1, 7-2 HL) clinched the second seed in the Horizon League tournament and with it, a bye to the semifinals.

Autumn Rasmussen scored in the 21^st minute and Megan Bowman added the insurance goal in the 74^th minute.  Lena Kurz made a career high 10 saves, including some highlight-reel efforts, and earned her ninth clean sheet.

When asked what the win, and the #2 seed, meant to the team, Tom Anagnost simply said, "Everything."

"I want to give a lot of credit to Oakland," Anagnost continued.  "I thought they were very good today.  They outplayed us in the first half for sure and they're a very, very good team.  It's the sign of a good team if you don't play your best and win.  I'm proud of our women for scraping out the victory.  We bent.  We didn't break.  Lena was fantastic and Tamae [Douglas] was rock solid.  Autumn scored a great goal and Bo's goal was really good."

The Flames will participate in the conference tournament for just the second time.  They appeared in the 2017 event as the #5 seed.  This year, they will not play until Thursday after finishing in sole possession of second place with 21 points in conference action.

Rasmussen, along with Douglas, Cassidy Privett, and Emily Valentine, were honored for their careers in a pregame ceremony.  "It was a great celebration for them," Anagnost said of his quartet of seniors.  "They have been so fantastic in every way and it's a great way to send them off.  I think resting is going to be great for us.  We need it; the team's tired.  We're going to give them almost two days off and then come back healthier and rested and ready to get after it again."

Moments That Mattered

• The Flames were tested early by a determined Oakland squad that dominated possession for the first 15 minutes.  On one occasion, Ashley Postma carried the ball into the box until Sydney Gratz depossessed her.
• Defense turned into offense when the Flames took possession in the final third.  Emma Main alertly fed a streaking Autumn Rasmussen, who got ahead of two defenders and sidestepped the keeper, who had come charging off her line.  Rasmussen then easily flicked the ball into the open net.
• Undaunted by being down a goal, Oakland continued to build opportunities.  Jessica Shears took a shot to the upper left corner, where Lena Kurz' outstretched hands made just enough contact to fend it away.  A later shot went past Kurz after she came down the line to make a play.  Tamae Douglas was in front of the goal to clear it.  Douglas made another important play late in the half when she bodied a Grizzly away from the ball as it rolled through the box, eventually becoming a goal kick.
• Keri Birkenhead had a run at the goal late in the first half.  She was played ahead, and once again Oakland's keeper ran out to meet her.  This time, her angle was better and Birkenhead could only send a shot wide of the net.
• Janai Cedeno stepped up early in the second half.  Oakland connected passes and was about to dribble into the box when she won the ball with a solid tackle.  It rolled just a short distance away, and she was first to it again with a diving kick to clear.
• UIC won a throw-in in the 74^th minute.  Jessica Christmas threw to Gratz' foot for a one-time, high pass that Megan Bowman got under near the penalty spot.  She quickly popped a shot to the top of the frame that Jaime Leas could only watch go over her head.
• Kurz had her most important sequence of the match right after Bowman's goal.  She made a diving play on a cross, after which the ball rolled slowly in front of the net.  UIC's back line got there first and cleared.  In short order, Oakland regrouped and got off another shot, which Kurz saved.  A spectacular stop was required when a blast from the top of the box seemed destined for the left 90.  Kurz leapt and somehow got a hand on it, deflecting it to the crossbar and out.
• Oakland subbed out starting keeper Leas in the last 10 minutes.  Jackie Santibanez pressured backup Noemi Stadelmann when the latter made an ill-advised pass out of the top of the box.  Santibanez was unable to control the ball, nor capitalize on the open net.
• Cedeno made the last important defensive play when she used superior positioning to screen a Grizzly away from the ball in the last minute.

Facts and Figures

• The Starting XI shifted with Jessica Christmas and Emily Kavanaugh returning to the lineup.
• Kurz' 10 saves, which ranged from the routine to the extraordinary, were a career high.
• Rasmussen's goal was her first of the season and second of her career.
• Bowman has scored in three straight matches.  She has four goals overall, good for second on the team.
• For the first time all year, the Flames did not take a corner kick.  Oakland had five, which was a season high for UIC opponents.
• Main's assist pulled her into a tie with Emily Valentine for the team points lead.  Each has 12.
• Gratz posted the first assist of her career.
• Oakland had a 13-8 advantage in shots, and a commanding 10-3 lead in shots on goal.

Up Next

• The Flames will play a Horizon League tournament semifinal match on Thursday in Milwaukee.
• The highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals will be UIC's opponent.  #3 IUPUI will play #6 Oakland, and #4 Wright State will host #5 Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinal matches Monday.