CHICAGO (Aug. 22, 2024) – After taking an early lead in Thursday's season opener, the UIC men's soccer team (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MVC) surrendered four consecutive goals to the visiting DePaul Blue Demons (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Big East), and were unable to mount a complete comeback, dropping the match by a 4-3 final score.
Jack Finnegan (Chicago, Ill./Wisconsin) netted the first goal of the match for the Flames, as a transition assist from
Rui Reis (Lisbon, Portugal/Antonio Damasio) gave the Flames the lead in the fourth minute.
Reis added to his point total in the second half with his first goal of the season, and
Paul Brauckmann (Welver, Germany) added a beauty of a goal off a free kick to pull within one goal. The comeback would fall just short, however, as UIC would fall by a final score of 4-3.
The full box score and play-by-play recap can be found
here.
COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH SEAN PHILLIPS
"Give credit to DePaul," commented head coach
Sean Phillips. "They stuck to their game plan and took the match to us after a quick start on our end. Plenty for us to learn from and work on moving forward after tonight."
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Finnegan's season opening goal was the first as a Flame for the Brother Rice graduate and transfer from Wisconsin.
- Transfer Rui Reis also tallied his first point in Chicago blue on the Finnegan goal, and added another on his first goal of the season.
- The Flames allowed four goals in a match for the first time since facing #19 Northwestern on Sept. 11 of 2023, a 4-1 defeat.
- Paul Brauckmann continued his dazzling free kick goals from a season ago, netting the third UIC goal in the 86th minute.
UP NEXT
- The Flames will remain home for one more match, as UIC welcomes Green Bay (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Horizon) to Flames Field Sunday evening for a 7 p.m. kick-off.
- Sunday's match will not be broadcast on ESPN+, but admission will be free for all fans in attendance.
- Each Sunday home match this season will be Pups at the Pitch, where fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to Flames Field.
SUPPORT THE CHICAGO COLLECTIVE
- Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC scholar-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
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