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thevalley
Goal_celebration
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Winner UIC UIC (7-9-2, 6-2-2)
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Valparaiso VAL (4-12-1, 0-8-1)
Winner
UIC UIC
(7-9-2, 6-2-2)
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Valparaiso VAL
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UIC UIC 0 1 1
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Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Flames Grind Out 1-0 Road Win at Valparaiso

UIC caps regular season with its most wins (6) and highest point total (20) in conference play since joining the MVC.

VALPARAISO, Ind. (Oct. 24, 2024) — On a rough-and-tumble Thursday night, the UIC women's soccer team (7-9-2, 6-2-2 MVC) persistently pressured Valparaiso (4-12-1, 0-8-1) before finally causing the Beacons to break with a 71st-minute own goal to capture a 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference win at Brown Field. With the victory, the Flames maintain their hold on second place in the conference standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season and are assured of finishing no lower than third in the Valley for third time in as many seasons since joining the conference.

For the second consecutive game, sophomore forward Camryn Ries (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) had a hand in the decisive UIC goal, as her cross from the left flank was turned in by a retreating Valparaiso defender. The score came less than three minutes after Ries drilled the underside of the crossbar with a powerful blast from the top left of the box. Graduate student goalkeeper Francesca Faraci (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South/Florida) anchored the Flames' defense with four saves to pick up her sixth solo shutout of the season.

The full box score and play-by-play recap from Thursday night's win at Valparaiso can be found here.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"This match showed how competitive MVC games are," said UIC head coach David Nikolic. "This one had it all. I'm happy with our grit to manage through the tougher moments in the second half. Our possession to build forward gave us good opportunities in the first half. I'm also happy with the play from our back line to keep good composure, as this helped us with confidence in the attacking phase. Camryn Ries had another big impact in the second half to generate two critical chances and the goal. I'm proud of our group and now we sit and watch Sunday!"

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS























BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • UIC has tied for its second-most wins in a season (7, also in 2017) and has set the second-most victories ever in a conference season (6; record is 7 in the 2019 Horizon League campaign).
  • The Flames finish the regular season with the most wins (6) and points (20) in conference play since joining the MVC in 2022, and just miss the overall school record for points in a conference season (21; 7-2 record in 2019 Horizon League).
  • UIC registers its second road win of the season, both coming in Valley action. The Flames won 1-0 at Belmont on Sept. 29.
  • The Flames improve to 3-4-1 all-time against Valparaiso, earning their first-ever win on the road at Brown Field. The only prior time UIC had earned any points at Valparaiso was on Oct. 3, 2018 (a 0-0 double-overtime tie before the current rules went to effect, eliminating overtime in the regular season).
  • UIC pitched seven shutouts in their 10 MVC games this season, with Francesa Faraci collecting 6.5 of those (splitting the conference-opening shutout vs. UNI with Lauren Keiser). Faraci's 6.5 shutouts are third-most in a single season in program history behind Keiser (eight in 2022) and Lena Kurz (10.5 in 2019).
  • The teams combined for 36 fouls on Thursday (18 apiece), easily the most in a UIC game this year (28 vs. Chicago State on Aug. 15 and at Drake on Oct. 17). It's also the most in any Flames' game since Sept. 20, 2019, when UIC and Wright State combined for 43 fouls (26 by UIC, 17 by WSU) in a 2-0 Flames' win at home.
  • Thursday's own-goal is believed to be the first turned in by a UIC opponent in the 10-year history of Flames' soccer. 

UP NEXT
With a bye on Sunday (the final day of the MVC regular season), the Flames now play the waiting game to see where they will land in this year's MVC Tournament. UIC would finish second and earn a double-bye into the conference tournament semifinals if Drake loses Sunday against Murray State. If Drake wins or ties, the Flames will be the No. 3 seed and will host a tournament first-round game between the No. 6 and 7 seeds on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. (CT) at Flames Field. UIC would then play the winner of that first-round game in the quarterfinals on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. (CT), also at Flames Field. If UIC hosts MVC Tournament games next weekend, admission will be $5 per person/per game, or a session pass for both games at $10 per person. All MVC Tournament games will be televised live on ESPN+.
 
SUPPORT YOUR FLAMES
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC student-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
 
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
For more information on UIC women's soccer, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_WSOC and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_wsoc and @uicflames).
 
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