The 2022 UIC Men's Soccer schedule, which was released today, will give the Flames plenty of opportunities to play some of the best teams in the country, and the chance to prove themselves worthy of a return to the NCAA tournament.
"Every year, we strive to put together a challenging schedule which gives our players a chance to square off against some of the best programs in the region and in the nation,"
Sean Phillips said. "This year is no different. We have some exciting opponents lined up in the non-conference portion of our schedule as well as the Missouri Valley. Our goal continues to be prepared to challenge for the conference regular season and tournament titles while placing ourselves in the best possible position to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament."
The challenging slate includes opponents from the Sun Belt, MAC, Big East, and the ACC as well as three Chicago rivals, and the program's debut campaign in the Missouri Valley Conference. Three of UIC's opponents appeared in last season's NCAA tournament, including a College Cup qualifier (Notre Dame).
UIC's season will begin August 25
th when the Flames visit Kentucky for only the second meeting in program history. The Wildcats advanced to the third round of last season's NCAA tournament, losing by one goal to eventual national champion Clemson. The Flames will welcome former Horizon League rival Cleveland State to the brand-new Flames Field for the regular season home opener on August 29
th.
"Our opponents include programs with whom we have long and competitive histories and those whom we have played less often but in exciting postseason matchups," Phillips explained. "The Missouri Valley will offer us opportunities to renew a few of these rivalries and start new ones."
Two crosstown rivals will venture to the near west side for consecutive matches on September 5
th and 9
th, in the form of Loyola and Chicago State, respectively. The Flames will visit Northern Illinois on the 12
th before opening a season-long three-match homestand. The match against Drake on September 17
th will be UIC's first conference match as Missouri Valley members, as well as the formal grand opening of Flames Field.
Another city rival, DePaul, will come calling before Bradley closes out the homestand, and the month of September. October will open with a trip to Nashville to take on Belmont, and then a week off before a visit to SIUE. Missouri State, the defending Valley champion, will come to Chicago October 15
th, followed by a home match on the 18
th against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish topped the Flames in South Bend last season, on their way to the ACC championship and a penalty kick shootout loss to Clemson in the College Cup.
The Flames will visit Bradley on October 23
rd, and Drake on November 2
nd. Those two sides are UIC's Valley twofers. The remaining conference teams appear on the schedule once each for a grand total of eight Valley matches. The regular season home finale will be against Evansville, the lone first-time opponent on the schedule, October 29
th.
"The Missouri Valley schedule will be seven straight weekends of high-level soccer, with a final Wednesday game leading into the tournament. To get a good seed in the tournament, and to put ourselves in a position to contend for the championship, we will need to be consistent in our focus and be purposeful in every training session," Phillips concluded. "The players, coaching staff and supporters are all looking forward to meeting that challenge."
All seven Valley teams will qualify for the conference tournament. Postseason play begins November 6 with quarterfinal matches at the sites of the #2, #3, and #4 seeds. The #1 seed will get a bye to the semifinals, which it will host November 10. The Valley championship match will take place November 13 at the site of the regular season champion.
UIC will host a pair of exhibition matches, both against opponents that appeared on the exhibition slate last year. Eastern Illinois and Michigan will come to Flames Field on August 13
th and 19
th respectively.
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