CHICAGO – The UIC men's soccer team announced its schedule for the 2023 season Thursday. The Flames will play 17 regular season matches, in addition to two exhibition matches to begin the season.
 
"We take great pride in our approach to scheduling, taking on the best teams possible," said head coach Sean Phillips. "We're excited for our second season in the Missouri Valley Conference and look forward to a great campaign."
 
The 2023 schedule features nine home matches at Flames Field along with eight road competitions.
 
The Flames begin the 2023 campaign with road exhibition matches at Western Illinois (Aug. 12) and reigning Atlantic 10 champion Saint Louis (Aug. 19). The Billikins advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Second Round in 2022.
 
UIC opens the regular season with four straight home matches at Flames Field, including contests against NJIT (Aug. 24), St. Thomas (Aug. 27), Oakland (Sep. 1) and Wisconsin (Sep. 4). The Labor Day match against Wisconsin will be the first time the Flames have hosted the Badgers since 2009.
 
The following week, the Flames travel to Chicagoland opponents Loyola (Sep. 8) at Rogers Park and Northwestern (Sep. 11) in Evanston.
 
UIC opens Missouri Valley Conference play on the road at Belmont (Sep. 16), followed by a non-conference visit to Chicago State on Sep. 19.
 
The Flames end the month of September with home conference matches against Drake (Sep. 23) and Western Michigan (Sep. 30). The Broncos advanced to the third round of the Division I Men's Soccer Tournament in 2022 and join Northern Illinois and Bowling Green as affiliate members in the MVC for men's soccer in 2023.  
 
To start October, UIC travels to DePaul for a non-conference match against the Blue Demons (Oct. 4) and finishes the week with a road contest in Springfield, Mo. against reigning MVC champion Missouri State (Oct. 8).
 
UIC returns home to take on Evansville on Oct. 14, followed by road competitions at Bowling Green (Oct. 18) and Bradley (Oct. 22). The Flames close the regular season with two home games at Flames Field. UIC hosts Northern Illinois in its MVC regular season finale on Oct. 27 before taking on Villanova in a marquee non-conference match-up on Oct. 30. This will be the first time the Flames and Wildcats have met on the pitch.
 
The 2023 MVC Men's Soccer Championship will feature six of the league's nine programs.  The tournament will be hosted over two weekends, with opening round action starting Nov. 5. The No. 1 seed will host the semifinal matches along with the final, with the championship match scheduled to take place on Nov. 11.
 
All home matches will be played at Flames Field, and are free to attend for all fans. A majority of UIC's home contests will also stream live on the ESPN digital family of networks, including ESPN+ and ESPN3. Follow @UIC_MSOC on social media for all the most up-to-date information on all things involving the men's soccer program.