UIC's offense, which had been potent as of late, fizzled in a 2-0 Missouri Valley loss to SIUE Sunday afternoon.  The Flames, who came in averaging nearly three goals and 19 shots per game over their last three, managed a season low seven shots against the Cougars.

"SIUE deserves a lot of credit for how they came out at the start of the game," Sean Phillips said.  "While their tactical plan was very good, it was their desire that made things so difficult for us for us to establish a rhythm which was very important the past few games when we were successful in the attack.  I thought we were much better in the second half but it was too little too late."
 
Scoring Summary

• SIUE opened the scoring in the 31^st minute.  A free kick past the top of the box was sent in to the area, where it was headed down and off the turf into the net.  "They converted their opportunity, which we gave them on an innocuous foul that was not needed," Phillips said.
• Doubt was removed from the outcome in the 84^th minute after a crossing pass from right to left, that was shot left to right, getting Andres Vasquez off balance.

Though the Flames were able to get into open space in the attacking third early in the match – Eduardo Garcia was in the mix twice in the first seven minutes – it was up to Andres Vasquez to make the biggest plays to keep his team in the game.  He made a big save of a shot from 10 yards out, and cut down the angle on a breakthrough attacker, denying him a shot, all in the first 15 minutes.

"We proved at Belmont that we are capable of coming back and getting a result," Phillips said, adding, "SIUE did a very good job of defending well and keeping us from getting a tying goal."

Vasquez was tested throughout the second half.  He had to make saves on consecutive shots from close range in the 59^th minute, and made a feet-first slide to deflect a shot away in the 71^st minute.  In between though, the offense found some footing courtesy of Josh Torres dribbling into the box and Pau Mateo sending a long shot on goal that had to be punched out.

The Flames' best chance to tie came in the 61^st minute on a free kick just up from the corner.  Juan Gutierrez headed it on goal, but the keeper saw it clearly.  Andres Moreno had a shot blocked, Christian Crespo worked the ball in centrally, and Torres had another chance that may have been destined to sneak in under the bar until it was punched over.  But SIUE was efficient in clearing after each push and did not allow the Flames to reload or make a play on a rebound.

The Cougars were extremely accurate offensively, putting nine of their 13 shots on goal to set a season high against UIC's defense.  Vasquez' seven saves were a season high.

UIC will begin the second half of the Valley schedule when they host first place Missouri State on Saturday.  "We knew the move to the Valley would present us with different challenges than we faced in the Horizon League.  While we have done well at times, it has not been consistent enough to be competing for a regular season conference championship, which is this program's standard," Phillips said. 

"We have shown over the course of Valley play to be very good at  times, but the lack of consistency has us at 1-2-1 which is disappointing.  I am looking forward to watching this group learn from the first half of the season as we prepare to host Missouri State on the 15^th."