UIC fell to Loyola, 2-1, in an exhibition match at Flames Field Tuesday.

The Ramblers struck first after just 1:23 had elapsed when Megan Nemec slotted home a pass from Jaimee Cibulka.  The match was played in three 30-minute periods to give players more rest on an afternoon with over a 100-degree heat index.  Less than five minutes into the second period, Kaitlyn Montague lofted a perfect feed across the pitch to Alexis Weeren, who was free inside the six.  Weeren headed the ball across the goal mouth and inside the far post to tie the match at 1.

"The second period was fantastic," David Nikolic said.  "They came out with great energy and they fought.  We were rewarded for our play with the goal.  There were some really special moments throughout the game that we're going to keep building off of."  Though the Flames controlled possession and chances through the rest of the second period, they could not jump out to a lead. 
Loyola scored the game-winner when Leah Senese and keeper Sara Sanabria collided going for the ball in the 76^th minute, and Nemec tapped it into the empty net.

"I'm pleased," Nikolic summed up.  "We were limited with our numbers.  We tried to execute the game plan as best we could.  We just ran out of gas at certain times.  We did have a lot of good combination play, and we were able to bring pressure.  We have to keep linking those things together."

Lena Kurz started in goal for the Flames, but Lauren Keiser and Sanabria each saw extended playing time.  Megan Bowman played 58 minutes in her return from injury, and led the team with three shots.  Two of them went on goal.

The Flames will play Southern Illinois in another exhibition on Friday.  The recovery and training plan before that match "has already been in place," according to Nikolic, and "now we have to figure out where everybody fits.  We had to move a lot of people around, with the weather being a big factor for us with our limited numbers, we kept plugging holes where we had to.  But we got to see some people in different spots and that's why you play these exhibition games.  A light bulb goes off in my head and says there's an opportunity for this player to play here, and we give it a shot."