BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (Nov 10, 2024) – The UIC men's soccer team (7-10, 3-5 MVC) opened play in the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championships Sunday night, as the Flames made a trip to the Buckeye State for a showdown against #3 Bowling Green (11-5-2, 4-2-1 MVC).
The Falcons struck very early in the match, as the Flames conceded their earliest goal of the season, just 33 seconds in on a shot from outside the box. The Flames applied the pressure for the remainder of the first half, as the Flames carried a 10-6 shot advantage to the locker room but trailed 2-0 at the break after a late goal from the Falcons. The Falcons added a third goal to their advantage early in the second half, but the Flames answered back shortly after, as
Bart Muns (Amsterdam, Netherlands) tallied his seventh goal of the season on a half volley to cut the deficit to two. Despite a feverish late attack, UIC could pull no closer than two, as the Falcons added a late header to earn a 4-1 quarterfinal victory.
The full box score and play-by-play recap can be found
here.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"Congratulations to Bowling Green on advancing," commented head coach
Sean Phillips.
"While we put ourselves in a hole during the first minute of the game, we responded well by creating a lot of high-quality chances in the first half. Credit to Bowling Green's goalkeeper for a few nice saves and their team for making key blocks to prevent us from getting the game tying goal before they got their second goal at the end of the half.
We created enough chances to cut the lead in half. However, as we were creating those chances, we were committing numbers forward and Bowling Green took advantage.
Ultimately, tonight was a night where they were more efficient taking advantage of our mistakes than we were taking advantage of their mistakes.
It is time to review this season and work hard with an eye towards Fall 2025 which will be here before we know it."
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Bart Muns finishes the season as the leading goal scorer for UIC, as his seventh of the season was the lone tally for the Flames Sunday night.
UP NEXT
Sunday's loss ends UIC's potential run in the MVC Men's Soccer Championship, as the Flames finish the 2024 season with a 7-10 overall record, and a 3-5 mark in regular season conference play this year.
SUPPORT THE CHICAGO COLLECTIVE
- Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC scholar-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
