UIC got a very important win on Senior Night at Flames Field with a 2-0 shutout of Detroit Mercy.  Not only did the Flames end a three-match skid, but they broke a tie with the Titans in the Horizon League standings, and now reside in fourth place all alone with one match to play.

Sean Phillips' Summary
"Coach Aleksey made a great point in the pregame.  These seniors are in a lot of championship photos around here.  I think, at times, experience comes through and tonight their experience came through.  Detroit is a very good team, difficult to break down, dangerous on the counter.  They had some opportunities but some of our older, more experienced players were able to manage those moments, and we got the shutout tonight."

Turning Points

• Bukola Abdulwahab led the Flames to a breakthough in the 37^th minute.  A ball was played to him from midfield, and he did the rest, getting clear of two defenders and then reversing his field outside the top of the box for a laser that he deposited inside the far post.
• UIC doubled its lead in the 57^th minute, when Jose Perez Flores and Alwin Seitz played give-and-go in the box.  When Seitz received the return pass, he sent it inside the six where Josh Torres was in place for a fabulous back-heel finish.
• The Titans were unable to solve Andres Vasquez, but had a tantalizing moment in the 79^th minute.  A knuckleball of a shot hit his hands and fell back into play, where another Titan had a point-blank chance that Vasquez was able to block.

Match Details
From the outset, it seemed like the match was destined to turn on an inch here or there.  Play on both ends of the field, while physical, afforded both sides chances that they wished they had back.  Andres Vasquez had to punch two free kicks out of his area before 10 minutes elapsed, while Younes Dayekh had a shot hit the post, and Abdulwahab's saved shot rebounded to Nkusuwila Zulu, who couldn't get the touch he wanted.

Senior Jose Perez Flores gave the large crowd a preview of what was to come from his classmate, when he weaved through the defense and took a worthy shot.  Ten minutes later, Abdulwahab showed off similar moves and made his shot count.  "We were going to have to be brave on the ball, we were going to have to connect our passes, we were going to have to move quickly," Phillips said of his team's strategy.  "When we had an opportunity to run at them, like Bukky did on his goal, we had to take it.  On his goal, Alwin makes an unselfish run, and isolates Bukky.  Bukky has enough space to hit a very nice curling shot to the back post."

Unselfish passing led directly to the Flames' insurance goal.  "We also did the same thing on our second goal," Phillips continued.  "We had to break them down.  It was a nice three-man combination between Pepsi and Alwin, and Josh Torres jumps on the field, we make a good sub, and our subs contributed tonight.  We had that when we went on an earlier run.  It's been missing a little bit.  They came in and contributed tonight quite nicely."

UIC did a stout job defending corner kicks late in the match, though Demetri Pliakos had a couple of tries from the run of play that added to Vasquez' save total, which reached five by the end of the match.  One additional shot had to be saved by a defender over Vasquez' shoulder.  Overall, the Flames doubled up their guests with a 20-10 advantage in shots, but Detroit Mercy showed on a number of occasions why they had allowed the fewest goals in Horizon League play entering action.  Only seven of UIC's shots went on goal.

The win clinched a spot in the Horizon League tournament for UIC.  Now, with just a match at Green Bay remaining, they will seek to secure home field advantage in the quarterfinals.  "This time of year, these games are always very important.  This year we're potentially on the outside looking in, or potentially hosting a quarterfinal game," Phillips explained.  "In other years we're fighting to win the regular season championship, or fighting to make sure we're the 2-seed and not the 3.  So this group of guys, especially the seniors, is used to this type of pressure down the stretch and I think their performances tonight showed that. 

"We've had a rough October, but we also had a really good week of training this week.  The guys really responded in training this week and I think they responded on the field too.  Now we have to look ahead and try to get three points at Green Bay."