CHICAGO – UIC caps off a brief two-match homestand Thursday when it plays host to Western Illinois in a 7 p.m. (CT) contest at Flames Field. It will be the annual UIC Campus Community Match, with students, faculty, staff and affiliated groups admitted free of charge. In addition, all Flames team members will be available to sign autographs at pitchside following the match, which will be televised live on ESPN+.
MATCH #6
Western Illinois "Leathernecks" (2-4-0, 0-0-0 OVC) at UIC "Flames" (4-0-1, 0-0-0 MVC)
When: Thursday, Sept. 11th | 7 p.m. CT
Where: Chicago, Ill. | Flames Field
Live Coverage: ESPN+ (Max Anderson, p-b-p) | Live Stats
Themes/Promotions: UIC Campus Community Match (all UIC students, faculty, staff and affiliated groups admitted free) | Post-Match Autographs with UIC Team Members
Tickets
• UIC students/staff/youths eighth grade and under - free
• Adults/youths ninth grade and older - $5 each
• Military veterans/first responders/groups of 10+ adults - $3 each
SERIES NOTES
UIC and Western Illinois will be meeting for the 25th time in their series history, with the Leathernecks holding a narrow 12-11-1 edge over the Flames. However, the series has been a tale of two eras — when the two schools competed annually as members of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU; later the Mid-Continent Conference and now the Summit League) from 1981-93, WIU held the upper hand over UIC by winning 12 of the first 13 matchups. Since the teams began playing as non-conference opponents (almost annually from 1994-2000, but sporadically since), the Flames have turned the tables, going unbeaten the past 11 times they have faced the Leathernecks (10-0-1 record).
Thursday marks just the second time UIC and WIU will play one another in the past 13 years. The last (and only prior) meeting since 2012 came almost exactly six years ago at Flames Field, when UIC posted a 3-0 victory on Sept. 8, 2019.
LAST TIME OUT
UIC junior midfielders Adrian Biaggi and Edouard Nys both collected a goal and an assist to help the Flames remain unbeaten in the 2025 season with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Wright State on Sunday afternoon at Flames Field. Biaggi and freshman defender Daniel Zepeda both netted their first career goals (and for Biaggi, also his first career assist), while Nys scored a goal for the fourth consecutive match, giving him a Missouri Valley Conference-leading five goals this season.
Like clockwork, the Flames scored in the 20th, 40th and 60th minutes, with Zepeda getting things rolling on a long-range blast that curled inside the right post. Biaggi followed with a close-in redirection of a free kick from Nys, who then closed out the scoring as the recipient on a clinical passing sequence that culminated with brilliant touches by Biaggi and Rui Reis and on to Nys for the goal.
UIC (4-0-1) dominated in every statistical category on Sunday, outshooting Wright State (0-4-1) by a 28-5 margin, including a 14-1 edge in shots on goal, and also had a 9-4 spread on corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Owen Cornell was called upon to make just one save (that coming in the final 10 seconds) to preserve his second shutout of the season and third of his career.
A HOT START
The Flames are 4-0-1 this season, highlighted by a 3-2 road win at Northwestern on Sept. 1 (Labor Day), the program's first road victory at a Big Ten Conference opponent since 2016. This is also the first time UIC is unbeaten through its first five matches since it opened 6-1-0 in 2019.
UIC's 14 goals through five matches are also its highest output to start a season since 2008, when the Flames netted 15 goals in their first five contests on the way to a Horizon League regular-season title and a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16.
NYS EARNS SECOND MVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
For the second time in the young 2025 season, UIC junior midfielder Edouard Nys has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Nys (name pronounced Ed-WAR NIECE) also received the honor on Aug. 26, becoming the first UIC men's soccer player to be a two-time Offensive Player of the Week in any conference since 2018, when Max Todd earned a pair of honors while the Flames were competing in the Horizon League.
A native of Dottignies, Belgium, Nys tallied three goals and an assist last week, helping UIC to a 2-0-1 week with victories at Northwestern and at home against Wright State, bookending a tie at DePaul. Nys scored the opening goal in the Northwestern win (the Flames' first on the road at Big Ten school since 2016) and again at DePaul, which was on the verge of standing up as the match-winner before the Blue Demons equalized late. Nys capped his latest weekly performance with a goal and an assist in Sunday's victory over Wright State, putting a season-high five of his eight shots on goal.
Nys has now scored goals in his last four matches, the longest goalscoring streak by a UIC player since Oct. 15-29, 2022, when Joshua Torres had a similar four-match run.
UIC AMONG THE NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS
According to the latest NCAA statistical report released Wednesday, UIC ranks among the top 15 in the nation in nine different statistical categories. The Flames lead the country in shots on goal per game (10.4), are second in shots per game (22.4) and fifth in both assists per game (3.6) and total assists (18). They are also sixth in total points (46), eighth in points per game (9.2), ninth in goal differential (+10), 10th in total goals (14) and 11th in scoring offense (2.8 goals per game).
Individually, UIC players are also factoring prominently in the top 15 of the NCAA statistical charts. Edouard Nys leads the nation in shots per game (5.8) and shots on goal per game (3.2), while standing fifth in total points (12), sixth in total goals (5) and eighth in both goals per game (1.0) and points per game (2.4). Rui Reis is third in the country in shots per game (5.2), while Carlos Nevarez is fourth in total assists (4) and 12th in assists per game (0.8).
UP NEXT: LOYOLA
UIC heads back to the north side of Chicago next Monday, as the Flames visit Loyola for a 7 p.m. (CT) match in Rogers Park. Links to the ESPN+ broadcast and live stats can be found on the front page and men's soccer schedule page at UICFlames.com.
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
UIC students, staff and youths in eighth grade and under are admitted to all soccer matches free of charge, while adults and youths in ninth grade and above can purchase tickets for $5 each at the northwest entrance to Flames Field (off Morgan St.) on match night. Discounted tickets for military veterans, first responders and groups of 10+ adults, are on sale for $3 each. In addition, fans can buy the new Flames Fast Pass, a one-time $50 purchase that will provide the bearer with access to all UIC home athletics events (except men's and women's basketball) during the 2025-26 academic year.
For more information on UIC men's soccer, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MSOC and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_msoc and @uicflames).
#FireUpFlames | #ChicagosCollegeTeam
