Missouri Valley Conference play will reach its halfway point when UIC visits SIUE Sunday afternoon.

After taking a point from league-leading Belmont last weekend, the Flames will look to continue to climb the Valley standings.  Tied for fourth place heading into this weekend's action, UIC can move up as far as second with a win, pending other results.  With just four more Valley matches the rest of the year, it's not too early to deem every outing important with an eye toward tournament seeding.

The resilient Flames fought back from a 2-0 deficit at Belmont in their last match to take a 3-2 lead.  It was the first time all season that UIC rallied to tie or lead after trailing at any point of a match.  It was also the second straight time that the Flames scored a season-high three goals.

Josh Torres scored his team-leading third goal against the Bruins.  Brian Perez had two assists to move into a tie for second on the squad.  The Flames now have six players who have at least one goal and one assist each.

SIUE features one of the Valley's top scorers, Pau Palacin (5 goals).  He is responsible for the game-winning goal in all three of the Cougars' wins.  Two keepers have evenly split playing time to date.  Eric Bauche has posted superior numbers across the board, and has two shutouts on the season.

The teams have met nine times as Division I counterparts.  SIUE won the first six meetings, during UIC's infancy as a DI program and a dynastic stretch for Cougar soccer.  The Flames have won the last three matches, ending in 2013.

The match will start at 3:00 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.