The beginning of the 2021 women's soccer season, when UIC faces Wake Forest Thursday night, will carry with it several firsts.

It will be the first match of the David Nikolic era.

It will be the first time the Flames have ever faced an ACC opponent.

It will be the first time the team has opened a season following consecutive trips to the postseason.

And it will be the first time an opener has come so soon after the previous season – just a little over four months since the 2020-21 season ended in the Horizon League semifinals.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Nikolic said before the team departed for Winston-Salem.  "A lot of the ideas and concepts are still fluid, and we're still trying to get them across as quickly as possible without overloading their systems.  For myself, every day I'm grateful to have the opportunity to do this.  I'm ready to go, and I couldn't be more excited to lead this team and get going."

A veteran core will lead the Flames into action, anchored by a back line that returns Brielle Gomez, Allie Tefend, and Grace Haines, who combined to start every match last season; in addition to the Senior CLASS award winner Lena Kurz in goal.  UIC had three shutouts and allowed just six goals in eight matches in the spring.  Haines and Gomez earned All-Horizon League honors.

"Brielle has been our central defender.  She has taken to the coaching points, and her organizational commitment to organize the defense has been good," Nikolic said.  "We named her a captain, along with Lena, who is a steady rock in the back with a veteran, savvy, European mindset."

Nikolic identified two additional seniors who will play instrumental roles.  "Alexis Weeren is back from an injury.  She has been a good leader on and off the field.  She's getting her fitness back, and scoring a goal against Loyola was a big boost for her mentality.

"Maeve Riordan is finding her spot as well.  She's also a leader who has taken younger players under her wing.  She came in fit and ready to go and can contribute with solid minutes."

Though a significant amount of scoring has departed via graduation, the most consistent single-season goal and assist makers will be back.  Grace Setter scored 0.38 goals per game, and Kaitlyn Montague registered 0.56 assists per contest, to set the single-season program records in 2020-21.  Montague's total of five assists tied the program record, despite the season being much shorter than any other campaign.  She was in the top 25 in the NCAA in assists per match.

A number of veterans aim to return to the pitch after injuries sidelined them in the spring.  Megan Bowman is the team's active career leader in goals and points.  Jackie Santibanez was an All-Freshman selection in 2019.  Janai Cedeno is a three-year starter who averaged over 91 minutes per match in 2019.

A group of seven freshmen joined the squad before practice began in early August.  Six of them saw action in at least one of the team's exhibition matches.  UIC fell to Loyola, 2-1, and defeated Southern Illinois, 1-0, in the preseason.

Nikolic observed, "I'm happy we got the two preseason games in.  They gave us a chance to look at more kids as we got more people back.  We found out more about where people fit.  There were some really good performances at SIU.  As a team, we are still growing into our roles and there needs to be some flexibility in what we do these first couple of games."

Despite a postponed, shortened 2020-21 season, and a condensed Horizon League tournament, the Flames nonetheless qualified for the conference tourney for the second straight year.  League coaches projected UIC to make it three straight in the preseason poll.  The team came in fourth, just one point behind Oakland for third place.
 

Horizon League Preseason Poll

Place	Team	Points
1.	Milwaukee	130 (9)
2.	Northern Kentucky	120 (1)
3.	Oakland	112 (1)
4.	UIC	111
5.	IUPUI	104
6.	Cleveland State	91
7.	Wright State	73
8.	Youngstown State	46 (1)
9.	Green Bay	44
10.	Purdue Fort Wayne	42
11.	Detroit Mercy	41
12.	Robert Morris	22

The Flames will face a young Wake Forest squad that returns 100% of its goal-scoring output from last season, along with all but one of its assists.  Twenty-five Demon Deacon players are freshmen or sophomores.  Three goalkeepers split time in 2020-21, and all three return this season.  The group combined for a 1.70 goals-against average and a .722 save percentage.  Graduate transfer Jenna Menta, the 2020 Big East Offensive Player of the Year, joined the squad from Georgetown.  She had five goals and a team-high eight assists last year for the Hoyas.

"Wake's exhibitions were challenging for their new group.  They have a lot of new players, but historically I know what they're about," Nikolic said, noting that he faced the Demon Deacons while at Northwestern.  "Their coach is a veteran and someone I respect greatly, so I know they're going to be well prepared.  We're going to give it our best shot.  We have as many people ready as possible, and they're eager to show what they're capable of."

Having spent the last two weeks training for the much-anticipated season opener, Nikolic and the Flames hope that Thursday night will provide one more first: the first win of the 2021 season.

The match will be streamed on ACCNX, available to anyone who has the ACC Network as part of their cable or satellite package.  Live stats and social media updates will also be available via the links in the blue box above.