UIC will host Detroit Mercy in a pivotal Horizon League match Saturday night.  It will also be Senior Night for seven Flames who are in their final year with the program.

The Flames and Titans are tied for fourth place in the conference.  Both teams are out of the running for a top-two finish, however, placing in the top four guarantees a team the right to host a quarterfinal match in the postseason tournament.

"Looking forward to this game on Saturday.  Detroit is always a challenging opponent for us," Sean Phillips said.  "They are disciplined defensively with talented players in the attack, as well as dangerous on set pieces.  We will have to be very good with our ball retention, efficient with our chances, excellent in defensive transition and disciplined on set pieces."

UIC will look to snap a three-match losing streak during which they have not scored a goal.  The offense has been generating chances, as the Flames rank seventh in the nation in shots per game.  Those shots of late have not come from dangerous spots on the field, something the team will try to improve upon in the last two matches of the season.

Detroit Mercy has built their record on defense.  They lead the Horizon League in goals allowed, with just six getting past the keeper in their eight conference matches.  The Titans had earned a result in three straight matches (2-0-1) until falling, 1-0, at Western Michigan Wednesday.  A trio of Titans are tied for the team lead, with three goals apiece.  One of them, Demetrios Pliakos, also has five assists to lead the squad.

A win would not only be greatly beneficial to UIC's postseason fate, but would pull them even with Detroit Mercy in the all-time series.  Detroit Mercy has won three of the last five meetings in Chicago, but the Flames have won the last two overall.  The most recent matchup came in 2019, as the teams did not play each other in 2020-21 due to Covid-19 protocols.

The match will begin at 7 p.m.  A ceremony to honor Bukola Abdulwahab, Younes Dayekh, Jacob Graiber, Jose Perez Flores, Jonathan Sanchez, Alwin Seitz, and Nkusuwila Zulu will take place prior to kickoff. "This is also the last regular season home game on Flames Field for this group of seniors," Phillips added.  "We have been very fortunate to have had this group contribute on the field, on the classroom and on campus.  Each of them will be missed."