UIC's season came to a heartbreaking end in a penalty kick shootout in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley championship.  After tying the game in the 84^th minute, and getting off six shots across two scoreless overtime periods, the Flames missed two of their four PKs.  Northern Iowa made all of theirs to take the shootout, 4-2.

Scoring Summary

• UNI took the lead in the 61^st minute on a headed corner kick that found open net to Lauren Keiser's left.
• UIC responded on a corner kick of their own.  Megan Bowman served in the kick to the head of Frankie Frericks with less than seven minutes to play.

The Flames set the tone early and had nearly all of the match's first-half threats.  Though UNI defended them well on several occasions at the edges of the box, Brielle Gomez still got in position to head a shot just off target, and Makena Shaw had a shot from within six yards but booted it high.  On the other end, Gomez and Yulexi Diaz made winning defensive plays.  The back line did not allow a shot to get to Lauren Keiser in the first 45 minutes.



Following their trend throughout Valley play, the Flames had advantages in possession, shots, corners, and chances throughout the 110 minutes of action.  Every UIC starter, save the keeper, had at least one shot, and eight of the 10 had a shot on goal.  Riley Collett and Sophia Jaime each had two shots on goal off the bench.  Collett was also the initiator on a number of crosses deep in the box that came tantalizingly close to connecting with a teammate.

With the match still scoreless in the second half, the Flames had a number of chances to be first on the board.  Jaime aimed a shot high that forced a leaping save, and later fed Collett in the middle of the box for a shot of her own that was saved.  The Flames took two consecutive corner kicks, the second of which Bowman headed on goal, only to be saved by a defender.  After that onslaught of attacking, the momentum shifted suddenly and dramatically to UNI when they scored at 60:29.

Jelena Zbiljic started to wrest some of the momentum back as the Flames chased a goal.  She got open in the box and sent a shot over the crossbar.  It was one of her two quality looks on the afternoon, among her game-high four shots.  Just a couple minutes later, Frericks cashed in one of the team's 10 corner kicks, and the Flames had new life.

In the overtime sessions, Shaw and Frericks both had chances to score.  Shaw's came after connections between Jaime and Bowman pushed the ball into the box and got the enthusiastic crowd primed with anticipation.

Bowman led off the shootout by hitting the left post.  Frericks and Hannah Gryzik both converted, but Diaz pushed her shot wide left in the fourth round.

The draw was UIC's sixth in the season, setting a program record.  Only once in 11 matches against Valley foes did the Flames allow more than one goal.  UNI became the only conference opponent to score a goal at Flames Field.

UIC's shot total of 25 was just three off their season high.  Only once this season did they put more shots on goal than the 12 that peppered UNI's net Sunday.  Jaime was the team's leading goal scorer with four, good for a tie for the fifth-best individual output in program history.  Frericks had three goals on the season, and Bowman had two to conclude her career as the program's all-time leading scorer.