UIC dropped a heartbreaker Sunday, as Missouri State scored a rebound goal in the 84^th minute to claim a 1-0 win.  The Flames pushed the league-leading Bears to the limit, putting eight shots on goal to challenge their keeper more than any other Valley team this year.

"There's a reason why they're the top team in the conference," David Nikolic said.  "They did frustrate us defensively in the final third.  I believe the chances we generated – Madison [Ferris] had a good one; we had plenty of corner kicks – we put the right pressure on in the right spaces.  It's the execution in the last action that we're still working on."

Scoring Summary

• The lone, late goal came after an initial Bear shot was saved by Lauren Keiser to the crossbar.  The deflection came down in play, finding another Bear.  Brielle Gomez got a piece of her follow-on shot, but not enough to keep it from going into the net.

Both teams had opportunities in the first half, and while UIC had the lion's share, neither team posed a serious threat before halftime.  An early free kick for the Flames went to the head of Frankie Frericks and yielded a corner kick, after which Makena Shaw had two shots blocked.  Frericks got in the mix again on a 27^th-minute throw-in, which resulted from nice interplay between Shaw and Megan Bowman.

A Bears free kick gave Lauren Keiser her first chance to touch the ball.  She had to jump to push the ball through the box and out.  Right before the break, Keiser fell on a volley that Missouri State sent into the box ahead of a couple of runners.

Energized after halftime, the Flames put two quality chances forward in the first seven minutes of the second half.  A promising cross got picked off by the keeper, before a handball gave UIC a free kick 35 yards out.  Yulexi Diaz boomed it to the upper reaches of the goal, where the keeper tipped it over the bar.  "In generating our attack, I thought the setup and tactics were good.  I thought we were in good positions for good portions of the game," Nikolic said.

The game was played evenly from then on.  Each team tried to get dangerous from the corner, as Madison Ferris headed a service on goal for one of her game- and season-high three shot on goal.  Later, Keiser had to make a contested catch on the other end.  Though the Flames put as many shots on goal (8) as the Bears took in total, it was a Missouri State challenge that resulted in the match's only goal in the final six minutes.  The Flames had a last minute free kick go into the box and deflect on a roll just outside the right post.

"I can't fault a lot of the reaction" after the loss, Nikolic said.  "I thought we were better for longer stretches.  It is a heartbreaker - we did everything right but the final piece.  Keiser didn't' have much to do and the back line was stellar and spot on.  Our organization in the midfield was good.  We were comfortable on the ball.  I'm disappointed we didn't come out with a result."

The Flames will close out the regular season with two home matches, starting Thursday against Indiana State.  They remain in fourth place after results from around the conference Sunday, and will fight to keep a top-four position and with it, the right to host a conference tournament match.  "We've got the opportunity to keep our destiny in our own hands with two solid performances this week," Nikolic concluded.