UIC's final non-conference match will be similar in many ways to the ones that preceded it: on the road, against an opponent the program has never played before, from a conference with a history of NCAA tournament success.

One way in which the Flames hope Thursday's match at Marquette will be different is the result.

Winless against a gauntlet of road tests, the Flames will make the first of two trips to the Cream City to play a Golden Eagle side that is also hungry for victory.  UIC will look to build on their last two outings, which both produced increasing season highs in shots and shots on goal.  The Flames even put one into the net for the first time in their last match against Western Illinois, although the goal was called back due to a foul.

Grace Setter showed signs of reverting to the form that set the program record for goals per game in 2020.  She took a season high three shots against the Leathernecks with one going on goal.  That moved her into second place on the team in both categories, behind Makena Shaw.

Whether Setter, Shaw, or any other Flame scores against Marquette, a goal of any type would be more than welcome for a defense that has had no margin for error.  Even one goal per game would have given UIC a win and two draws.  Lena Kurz has a .795 save percentage – good for fourth in the Horizon League – and in 74% of her career appearances, she has played well enough to ensure that a single goal would secure a win or draw for UIC.

Marquette opened their season with a 4-3 win over Central Michigan.  Since then, they have lost three straight matches.  Katrina Weatherell has two goals to lead the squad.  Three players have seen time in goal.  Mikki Easter leads the bunch with a 1.13 goals-against average and an .812 save percentage.

Though this year's non-conference schedule is arguably the most difficult in school history without taking into account the fact that none of the matches were played at Flames Field (UIC's opponents to date are a combined 14-5-6), a result against Marquette would give the team some much-needed momentum heading into the unprecedented 11-match conference slate.

Thursday's match starts at 7:00 p.m. and can be seen on FloFC.  Links to follow live are in the blue box above.