An 86^th-minute goal gave Milwaukee a 2-1 win over UIC in a Horizon League semifinal at Flames Field Sunday.

The Panthers led from the sixth minute, when they converted a penalty kick.  In the 67^th, Roberto Alonzo pulled the Flames level, until a Paolo Gratton header advanced Milwaukee to the league championship.

"First, congratulations to Milwaukee.  In tournament games, you have to be the team that makes the most plays and on the day, they did a good job of pressuring us early," Sean Phillips said.  "That resulted in them earning penalty kick.  Once we got our feet under us and we made a tactical change, our players adjusted very well and we started to do better.  We did well as far as territory and possession for a large part of the second half.  I thought we deserved to pull even, and credit to their goalkeeper who made a couple of really nice saves that could have made it 2-1."

Out of sorts for much of the first half, the Flames mustered only one shot on goal among their seven total tries.  They were on the front foot for large swaths of the second half, peppering the Panthers' net with nine shots on target.  UIC had to play a man down for the last 15-plus minutes, yet still had a couple of late chances to send the match to extra time.

"The second yellow for us gave them numbers up but with that said, I thought the fight and resilience of our players, especially as we went deeper into our bench with some injuries, showed some of what's really good about this group," Phillips continued.  "At the end, Milwaukee to their credit made the play to win the game, but our guys were still able to create a chance or two and their goalie had to make some saves."

Eduardo Garcia, Jose Perez Flores, and Pau Mateo all had good chances to square the match in the final minutes.  Nick Chiappa ended the match with nine saves.

This is the first time since 2014 that the Flames have not won either the regular season or tournament championship.  "It's disappointing to lose in the playoffs.  We hate not winning trophies, because that's what we do," Phillips said.  "We win trophies and play really good soccer and we graduate guys.  At times we played really good soccer this year."

"As far as the course of this entire year, I'd be remiss not to compliment the work our players put in with the physical and emotional challenges of putting a season together.  It takes a toll on people, and I think for our guys to have done what they did needs to be complimented. 

"I need to thank our administration both in the athletic department and in the campus for putting things together so that these guys could experience a season."

Match Highlights

• The Panthers got on the board in the sixth minute after Jacob Graiber corralled a runner in the box.  Raul Medina took the kick and sent it inside the left post, as Sokratis Vasilas dived the opposite direction.
• For the first 25 minutes, the Flames had problems connecting passes and were forced to play out of the back repeatedly.  They did break through and earned a corner kick, leading to an Alwin Seitz shot from high in the box that went over the bar.  Passing was very crisp during the buildup that resulted in a subsequent corner kick.
• Vasilas made one of his three saves in the 31^st minute when Abdu Regassa got free just yards from the goal.  His shot was stoned and the Flames continued to trail by only one.
• UIC had the better of play as the second half developed.  A beautiful cross by Seitz into the box just missed a running Nkusuwila Zulu.  Not a minute later, Christian Crespo put a credible shot on goal which was saved.
• Alonzo found the back of the net in the 67^th minute.  The Flames pressed forward with Christian Crespo dribbling outside the box.  He passed to Zulu, who flicked with one touch to Alonzo.  Alonzo shot high, over the keeper in the left corner of the goal.
• The Flames continued to apply pressure.  Zulu, Eduardo Garcia, and Crespo all had shots saved in a three-minute span.  But when Diego Mendoza took his second yellow card at the 75^th minute, Milwaukee regrouped.
• With possession tilting in their favor, the Panthers put a couple of shots on goal before Quinn Rechner lofted a pass from the sideline to the center of the box.  Though Paolo Gratton was being bodied by Garcia, Gratton still outleaped his man and headed the ball over Vasilas' outstretched hands.
• Jose Perez Flores had the Flames' best chance to force overtime.  His shot from the top of the box was saved.  Garcia had a shot deflected out, and the Panthers moved on to the championship match.

Facts and Figures

• Seitz returned to the Starting XI for the first time in eight matches.  Andres Moreno made his first start of the season.
• Alonzo's goal was his second of the year.  He became the fourth Flame to score multiple times.
• Zulu and Crespo ended with five and four assists respectively to lead the team.
• UIC ended with 19 shots, 10 of which went on goal.  Half of Milwaukee's 10 shots were on target.
• Garcia and Crespo each had three shots.  Perez Flores and Manny Cerritos led the team with two shots on goal each.
• The Flames took a season high 12 corner kicks.
• Milwaukee was flagged for offside 11 times.
• UIC lost consecutive games at Flames Field for the first time since September 3 and 16, 2017.