UIC will begin perhaps its toughest stretch of the 2021 schedule Wednesday when the Flames visit IUPUI.  With 12 points, the Flames are tied atop the Horizon League standings with next week's opponent, Milwaukee, and IUPUI is right behind them with 10 points.

"These are the ones you want to play," Dustin Downey said, adding, "it's exciting to be playing high caliber teams.  These are the matches you live for.  We're excited to play a good program like IUPUI and I think it will be a good game."

The Flames bounced back from their only loss of the season with a win over Purdue Fort Wayne last week, and enter play at 4-1.  IUPUI is still undefeated at 3-0-1.  "After our loss to Wright State, as a coach I reflected on things we needed to get better at," Downey said.  "We had a good week of training before Purdue Fort Wayne and we did a lot of things well.  We came out great in the first half, defensively we didn't allow a lot of opportunities in our box, and we recovered in transition. 

"The girls learned that the sacrificial play you make benefits the team.  They put their bodies on the line and made the extra effort to help the team.  We're going to see more and more of that.  We had another good week this week, and we're prepared for a big test."

UIC's defenders not only played well on the back end, they made impacts in other areas.  Grace Haines had her first assist of the season in last week's match, and Downey identified Brielle Gomez as having more leadership moments in training.  Both Haines and Gomez have played every minute of the season so far.

Wednesday's match will be a noon kickoff and can be seen on ESPN3.

OPENING KICK

• UIC will visit IUPUI in a matchup of two of the Horizon League's top defenses.
• Both teams' goals-against average hover around 0.5 per game.  Keepers Lena Kurz and AP Woodall share the league lead with three shutouts apiece.
• The match is scheduled for IUPUI's outdoor pitch at Carroll Stadium.  It would be UIC's second outdoor match of the season.  They lost their only previous outdoor affair, 2-1 at Wright State.

 JACKSON'S ACTION

• Savannah Jackson was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week Feb. 26, after scoring a brace against Robert Morris.
• Jackson leads UIC and is second in the Horizon League with three goals.  She also leads the team in shots and shots on goal, and is fifth in the conference in shots on goal per game.
• Though she hasn't scored in the last two games, Downey believes she is ready for a breakthrough.  "Sav has been in a drought lately but she looked sharp and focused the last couple days."

HELPING OUT

• Kaitlyn Montague assisted on all three of UIC's goals against Robert Morris.
• Montague has four assists on the season (0.8 per game) to rank third in the Horizon League.  She is 24th in the NCAA in total assists.
• She has shown to be equally adept at initiating restarts and generating offense from the run of play.  Two of her assists came on free kicks, while the other two came on passing within the Flames' attack.

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS

• IUPUI survived a 3-2 win over Wright State last week to remain undefeated.  They surrendered their first two goals of the season.
• Four players have one goal each.  Five players have one assist each.
• AP Woodall has allowed one goal from the run of play.  She has a .905 save percentage and a 0.47 goals-against average.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE

• UIC has the second stingiest defense in the Horizon League.  They have allowed only three goals this season.  IUPUI has allowed two.
• The Flames' overall save percentage, .864, ranks second in the conference.
• With 3 shutouts, UIC leads the conference.

JAGUAR JUNKETS

• UIC won the first meeting between the programs, 2-0 in 2014.
• IUPUI has won all four matchups since.
• UIC's win over the Jaguars was the first win in program history.
• The Flames scored only one goal in three of their four losses to IUPUI.