Pau Mateo scored two goals, and UIC extended their winning streak to four in a row, as the Flames defeated Northern Kentucky 3-1 at Flames Field Wednesday.  The Norse drew first blood, halting a three-game shutout streak, but Younes Dayekh brought the Flames level right before half, and Mateo's second half brace moved UIC to 3-1 in Horizon League play.

Sean Phillips' Summary
"Credit to Northern Kentucky.  They had a very good game plan.  They made it very difficult for us in the first 30 minutes to break them down, as we knew they would.  To be able to get a result against a difficult team like Northern Kentucky, we're starting to see a lot of good things with this team.  We go down a goal, and a lot of times teams won't find a way back, but our guys scratched and fought and we got it back right before half.  Then we had a bright, bright start to the second half.  We're in a good place."

Turning Points

• A 42^nd-minute penalty put Dayekh on the spot for the second time this year.  He made it two-for-two by solidly sending the ball past Daniel Bermingham.
• Mateo put the Flames ahead in the 62^nd minute with a header of a Jose Perez Flores corner kick.
• The insurance goal, and the first brace of Mateo's career, came when he sent a free kick from between the box and the sideline straight into the far corner of the net.

Match Summary
UIC controlled possession for the lion's share of the first half, but a strong Northern Kentucky defense made it hard for them to create legitimate chances.  The Flames outshot NKU 11-7 in the first half, but only one of their attempts went on goal.  The Norse scored first by staying with the play into the box and connecting a pass to Deryn Armstrong, who pushed a shot past Andres Vasquez.  "They earned that goal, and that's how they get you," Phillips observed.  "They defend very well and they get you on the counter, and they did that the first 35 minutes."

The tides turned in the 42^nd minute.  "We put [Andres] Moreno in, and he provided a solution for us," Phillips explained.  "He drew the penalty and from that point on, we started great in the second half, with a corner kick and a shot on goal right away."  In the second half, a much sharper Flames attack unleashed 14 shots, of which nine went on goal.  "Their goalkeeper was good on the night.  I thought our guys attacked well and we defended better," Phillips said.

The Flames' attack earned several advantageous set pieces, and they cashed in two of them to tilt the score in their favor.  On a corner kick, one of the 11 they took on the night, Jose Perez Flores connected perfectly with a running Mateo's head.

"Oftentimes, when you play a team that defends well and gets numbers around the ball in our attacking third, you're going to create set pieces.  That's sometimes how you have to break them down," Phillips pointed out.  "We created enough set pieces throughout the night.  The guys were committed, the service on the restart was excellent from Pepsi [Perez Flores]."

Eduardo Garcia had a dangerous header go just high, and after another corner kick Alwin Seitz sent a dangerous cross in front of the goal, but despite it all the Flames still clung to a one-goal lead until the 85^th minute.  Consecutive restarts helped the Flames put the match out of reach as a free kick from beyond midfield went to the side of the box, where Bermingham decided to play it.  He ran into Garcia, received a yellow card, and then was helpless when Mateo curled the free kick into the net.

"One of the best things about Pau is his ability to play the ball.  He took it well, and sometimes that's how you have to break down a team with good goalkeeping and that blocks a lot of shots," Phillips said.

Even after taking the lead, UIC did not relent in their attack.  They played most of the rest of the match in NKU's end and finished with possession for 59% of the contest.  "The guys have made a commitment to getting better and being consistent.  Early in the season, we were inconsistent within the game, and inconsistent from game to game," Phillips said.  "They have committed to defending better from the front all the way to the back, and we've made a commitment to being braver with the ball and doing all the work necessary to connect passes and create chances."

The Flames will break from Horizon League play when they visit Creighton on Saturday.