Pau Mateo's golden goal in the second overtime period gave UIC a 2-1 win over Detroit Mercy, and sent the Flames to the Horizon League semifinals. A deft give-and-go with Eddie Garcia gave Mateo enough space to send a rocket to the far upper 90. UIC will face top-seeded Oakland on Thursday.
Sean Phillips' Summary
"This time of year, it's all about advancing. Compliments to Detroit; they were very difficult to break down. While I felt at times we did break them down, when we did their goalkeeper showed why he's the goalkeeper of the year with some fantastic saves. But we continued to work at it, we stayed disciplined defensively when Detroit did break through, we put our bodies on the line and did whatever it took to block the shot until we got game winning goal."
Turning Points
- UIC got on the board early, when Bukola Abdulwahab forced a turnover in Detroit Mercy's box and then snapped a shot inside the far post.
- The Titans got even in the 71st minute on a penalty kick.
- Forward pressure set up the game-winning goal. After a ball was sent across the goal mouth, UIC retained possession. Sharp passing opened Mateo up well past the top of the box for his fourth goal of the season.
Match Details
The match was barely three minutes old when Abdulwahab staked his team to the lead. As he did in the regular season meeting with Detroit Mercy, he made a quality individual move to get himself open for a shot, and then snapped it inside the post.
"Bukky is starting to come back into form. He's gotten some goals in the last few games, which is great to see," Phillips said.
Mateo offered a preview of his eventual game-winner when he took a free kick outside the box. Jonathan Kliewer went high to make one of his nine saves. Around the half hour mark,
Andres Moreno got involved. He had a shot saved for a corner kick, on which
Nkusuwila Zulu put a header on goal. Later, Moreno got behind the defense and was stopped by what may have been Kliewer's best save of the match.
In the second half, Kliewer made a potentially deadly mistake. He offered a giveaway deep in his zone, and was bailed out by a defender filling in behind to break up a pass. Back line defense was crucial for UIC as well.
Andres Vasquez made four saves, which was just one more than his teammates did. Garcia was in position to kick a shot away late in the match, during a spell in which Detroit Mercy had the better of play.
"You have to be willing to do whatever it takes, and take no chances," Phillips observed. "When Andres stepped off his line to deal with something, guys covered for him just as he covered for them with some nice saves of his own.
"Detroit was carrying play when they earned their penalty," he continued. "Our guys kept fighting and got their chances.
"It was a very good college soccer game."
Abdulwahab had a couple of opportunities for a second goal later in regulation. He rolled a shot past Kliewer, and past the far post. At the end of regulation, he forced a diving save before Mateo took a free kick from the semicircle in the dying seconds, pushing it high.
The first overtime period saw three shots by the Flames and two by the Titans, but nothing that could be called dangerous. Mateo's golden goal was his team-best third game-winning goal of the season.
UIC advanced to the Horizon League semifinals for the seventh straight season. On the match, they took 27 shots with 11 going on goal. Abdulwahab had a game-high seven attempts. He scored a goal for the third straight match.
The Flames will face #1 seed Oakland on Thursday, at Oakland, in the semifinals.
