UIC used two second-half goals to defeat Evansville on Senior Night and move into fourth place in the Valley standings with one match remaining.  Paul Brauckmann and Josh Torres both scored within a four minute span to account for the 2-0 final.

Before the match, the Flames recognized the careers and contributions of their 10 seniors.  All 10 saw playing time in their last regular season match at home.



Scoring Summary

• Brauckmann broke through in the 66^th minute on a counter.  A Purple Aces shot hit the crossbar and bounded out, eventually getting to Brauckmann near midfield.  He saw the keeper playing up, and sent a shot from 45 yards over him as he backtracked.
• The Flames built up chances in the 69^th minute off a throw-in and subsequent play in the box.  Preston Huitron played deeper to Torres, whose shot from a low angle crossed the face of the goal and went in at the far post.

UIC's defense played a stellar game against an Evansville team that ran from side to side, and from end to end, the full 90 minutes.  Whether on set pieces or in the run of play, they were well positioned to deny the Aces quality looks at the goal – indeed, none of their 10 shots were on target.

For their part, Evansville matched the Flames in defensive effort for most of the match.  UIC took nine shots in the first half, but neither of Alex Vidizzoni's saves required extraordinary effort.  Ricardo Avalos had a couple of late-half shots from distance.  One of them was saved, rebounding to Ezau Millan for a shot that went high.

The Flames started to turn up the pressure in the middle stages of the second half leading up to their goals.  They earned two straight corners, the first of which came after a dangerous shot by Preston Huitron got deflected over the line.  Both teams finished with five corners.  Two of Evansville's came after they went down, but the Flames neutralized both.

Andres Vasquez kept his sheet clean for the fifth time this year, and 12^th in his career to break a tie for fifth place in program history.  He did get saved by the crossbar on the shot that led to Brauckmann's runout and score, and made a nice slide to end an advance into his box, but otherwise kept his defense organized against an Evansville side that had not lost in its last three matches.

With the three points, UIC moved to within one of Evansville, who still sits in third place.  The top four teams will host tournament matches, and with a win in their season finale, will clinch a top-four seed in their first Valley postseason.

The regular season will end Wednesday when the Flames visit Drake.