Two Oakland goals in the first seven minutes set the tone, as the Golden Grizzlies went on to defeat UIC 3-0 in rainy Rochester Thursday night.

David Nikolic's Summary
"We did not start well.  The response after that, aside from the third goal, was quite good.  Our intensity and our pressure were there; we forced them into mistakes.  We had four shots and four corners in the first half, but nothing to show for it.  If the third goal is the only one, we're not happy, but we're not in as big a hole."

Turning Points

• The hosts struck first in the fifth minute.  They took possession out of a scrum in the center of the box, pulled the action to the right, and then sent a cross back centrally for the finish.
• Just two minutes later, Oakland had possession in the box again.  Maeve Riordan was the second defender to arrive to the ball, and she was whistled for excessive contact.  The penalty kick was good to make it 2-0.
• Oakland's third goal came in the 25^th minute.  The Flames attempted to send the ball out of harm's way, but a free runner crashed to the top of the box to send the loose ball to the right edge of the net on first touch.

Match Details
Despite giving up two early goals, UIC remained in the game and generated quality chances throughout the first half.  A Kaitlyn Montague corner kick found Makena Shaw, whose clean shot was blocked out for another corner.  That one was headed by Grace Setter wide of the frame.  Setter would be in the mix on two additional occasions, getting another header toward the goal face but saved, and as the target of a Jelena Zbiljic feed that was on pace to connect right in front of the goal before it was intercepted.

Grace Haines could have scored two goals on free kicks.  Distance was no object for her, with one try from 30 yards going low but outside the right post, and another from 35 yards beautifully sent under the crossbar until Noemi Stadelmann tipped it over.

"Credit to Oakland, they started the game well," Nikolic said.  "Of our four shots, nothing was really dangerous.  There are small margins in these games which might look bigger with the three-goal margin, but if we had the mentality that we had from the 10^th minute on for the whole game, maybe it's a different result.  That's the discussion we're having with the team now."

"Our scouting report was very specific on their goalkeeper," Nikolic continued, adding, "we weren't good enough with it.  We have to do better, and have better actions around the goal.  We can't rely on just getting there.  We have to step up how we attack."

After the dust settled, Lena Kurz made four saves, two of which required her to dive to her left to make a high-quality stop.  She had two more big plays near the hour mark.  She broke up a 2-on-0 break with an interception of a pass into the box, and she came out near the penalty spot as a Golden Grizzly bore down, forcing the angle and a shot wide.

With a three goal lead entering the second half, Oakland could have played numbers back, but instead kept the game open.  "Our bench came in with a great work rate and great intensity.  They pushed the game, and our levels were better in terms of what we were doing to make the game," Nikolic said.  Oakland nonetheless did not allow the Flames to get a shot off past halftime, and surrendered just one corner kick after defending four in the first half.  UIC's total of five did tie their season high.

Haines and Brielle Gomez both played all 90 waterlogged minutes.  Janai Cedeno (50 minutes) and Tina Thorsen (24), and Zbiljic (61) each came off the bench to set or tie their season high.

The Flames will return to action at Flames Field Sunday, when they host Green Bay.