The 2020-21 season was the first time since 2014 that UIC did not win a trophy for a Horizon League regular season or tournament championship.

The good news for the Flames is that they only had to wait four and a half months to start a new season, and look toward starting another championship streak.

"Not winning a trophy last year, has not sat well," Sean Phillips said.  "Not only does it serve as motivation, but just as importantly, recreate the appreciation of the amount of work and dedication that is necessary to earn results."

Phillips has an abundance of returning upperclassmen who have led the team through preseason training for the past two weeks.  Nineteen players who saw action last season – including those who accounted for 18 of the team's 19 goals, and 16 of its 19 assists – are back for 2021.  Nkusuwila Zulu (five goals, five assists in '20-'21) and Jose Perez Flores (three goals, three assists) are part of the senior class that wants to leave a lasting impression on the program.

"This will be their first real test of leadership.  What has been the impact that they've had on the team since the end of last spring?" Phillips wondered.  "We'll see some of that this weekend.  I think they've been pretty good.  How they've held themselves and managed themselves and their teammates will have a direct impact on not just this game, but how the overall season goes."

The Flames will face Grand Canyon Thursday night in the season opener.  The Lopes are ranked #22 in the preseason poll.  "It was a long road to get back to this," Phillips observed.  "This will be a very unique opportunity for our players.  We look forward to playing in a great facility against an NCAA tournament team.  This match has historically had a large crowd.  We anticipate a great environment. 

"It will be an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and what it takes to get a result on the road against a high quality opponent who plays a good brand of soccer."

Though Phillips could sent out an XI full of veterans, a group of eight newcomers has been pushing to earn minutes.  Transfer students Younes Dayekh and David Ejeh have Division I experience at St. Mary's and Xavier respectively, and Jonathan Mayen was an NJCAA All-American at Yavapai.

A trio of true freshmen – Josh Torres, Francisco Espinoza, and Brian Perez – have been improving since the beginning of the preseason, while classmates Sindri Vilhjalmsson and Jason Sierakowski are in the battle to replace Sokratis Vasilas in goal.

"The new players are finding their way.  The more experienced ones are finding it a little bit faster," Phillips said, adding, "the freshmen are taking a bit longer but getting closer every day.  I'm looking forward to the time that all the new guys are fully integrated because they can add something special to the group."

Vasilas, who played last season as a graduate student, declined an extra year of eligibility in order to take a job with Adobe.  That means that Andres Vasquez returns as the only experienced goalkeeper.  Any newness in goal will be countered by a veteran back line that includes preseason College Soccer News All-American Jacob Graiber, Pau Mateo, Eddie Garcia, and Manny Cerritos.  All are seniors who have combined for 167 appearances and 164 starts.  Graiber and Mateo are averaging over 90 minutes per match for their careers.

GCU was the WAC regular season champion last year and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.  Like the Flames, they return the overwhelming majority of their offensive production, including six-goal scorer Maximilan Moeller and Justin Rasmussen, who had five goals and two assists.  Also like UIC, the Lopes will be starting a green goalkeeper, as the total experience on their roster amounts to three minutes.
 

Horizon League Preseason Poll

Place	Team	Points
1.	Oakland	113 (7)
2.	Milwaukee	102 (1)
3.	UIC	93 (1)
4.	Northern Kentucky	87 (2)
5.	Wright State	82
6.	Cleveland State	71
7.	Green Bay	58
8.	Detroit Mercy	40
9.	Purdue Fort Wayne	36
10.	Robert Morris	26
11.	IUPUI	18

Grand Canyon is just the first of several opponents with a history of postseason experience that will challenge the Flames this season.  City rivals Northwestern and DePaul, along with St. Louis, Creighton, and Notre Dame are interspersed among a grueling, 10-match Horizon League schedule.  Conference coaches voted the Flames third in the preseason poll.

"Our aspirations have not changed.  We aspire to be at the top of the Horizon League.  We aspire to win trophies and find a way into the NCAA tournament," Phillips stated.

"We've learned a lot about ourselves over the last two weeks.  Starting our season against Grand Canyon will be a great opportunity to measure ourselves.  I'm looking forward to seeing how our guys have grown since the beginning of preseason, and I can't think of a better setting in which to challenge ourselves.  We're going to have to be very good in all facets of the game."

The opening match will start at 9 pm Central and can be seen on ESPN+.  Additional links to follow live are in the blue box above.