BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – For the third time in the last four years, the UIC men's soccer team has reached the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, as the fifth-seeded Flames travel to No. 1 seed Bowling Green on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. (CT) match at Cochrane Stadium. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while fans can follow the live stats feed at UICFlames.com.

UIC is seeking to be the third team seeded No. 5 or 6 to reach the MVC title match in as many seasons. Last year, sixth-seeded Western Michigan not only advanced to the final, but won the crown, duplicating the feat by No. 5 seed Evansville in 2024. 

MATCH #17
2026 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament - Semifinals
#5 seed UIC "Flames" (5-7-4, 1-3-2 MVC) at #1 seed Bowling Green "Falcons" (9-6-2, 5-1-0 MVC)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 11th  |  6 p.m. CT
Where: Bowling Green, Ohio  |  Cochrane Stadium
Live Coverage: ESPN+  |  Live Stats

SERIES NOTES
Wednesday's contest will be just the seventh between UIC and Bowling Green on the soccer pitch, with the Falcons holding a 4-1-1 edge all-time against the Flames (3-0-1 at BGSU). The two sides met just last week (Wednesday, Nov. 4) with Bowling Green edging UIC, 1-0 at Flames Field on a goal in the 28th minute. The Flames outshot the Falcons, 27-9 and had the upper hand on corner kicks (8-2), while BGSU had a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.

This will be the second time UIC and Bowling Green are playing in the MVC Tournament. In 2024, the Flames traveled to Northwest Ohio for a conference quarterfinal that was won by the Falcons, 4-1.

POSTSEASON PEDIGREE
UIC has won six conference tournament titles during its history, all coming as a member of the Horizon League (and its predecessor, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference). The Flames' last conference tournament championship came in 2018, capping a stretch of three consecutive crowns in the Horizon League (as well as marking the last time they advance to a conference tournament title match).

In UIC's five seasons as an MVC member, the Flames have advanced to the Valley semifinals three times (2023 - won at home vs. Belmont, 2-1; lost at Missouri State, 1-0; 2025 - won 1-0 at Belmont, lost 4-1 at Evansville; 2026 - won 1-0 at Belmont, TBD at Bowling Green). This will be the sixth consecutive road match for UIC in the MVC Tournament, a run that started with the aforementioned 2023 semifinal loss at Missouri State.

ALL-CONFERENCE TRIO
UIC redshirt junior midfielders Alan Alonso and Sebastian Khoury captured second-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors, while midfielder Artem Grinblat was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team, as announced by the conference office on Nov. 7. The all-MVC accolades, which were the first in the careers of all three Flames players, were selected through a vote by the conference's seven head coaches.
 
A native of Grayslake, Ill., Alonso has started all 16 matches for the Flames this season, collecting the first two goals of his career at Oral Roberts and at home against Northwestern. He has also been a mainstay in the defensive midfield for UIC, helping the Flames post four shutouts this season.
 
One of UIC's top attacking threats, Khoury has appeared in all 16 matches this year, starting nine times. The Palatine, Ill., product has posted a career-high and team-leading five goals and 12 points this season, while ranking among the national leaders in shots on goal per match (2.0) and shot accuracy (.593). Khoury also tallied his first career two-goal match on Sept. 25 in a conference-opening win over Bradley at Flames Field.
 
Grinblat has been a key contributor for UIC all season as both a starter and reserve, playing in 14 matches (10 starts) and collecting two goals and one assist. He also scored twice in the win over Bradley, becoming the first UIC freshman to post a brace since 2018 and leading to his selection as MVC Player of the Week, the first Flames rookie in nine years to be chosen as a conference player of the week.

LAST TIME OUT: BELMONT
Redshirt freshman forward AJ Sabanovic netted arguably the biggest goal of his young career, scoring in the 58th minute to propel fifth-seeded UIC to a 1-0 victory at No. 4 seed Belmont in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals last Saturday night at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville, Tenn.

Sabanovic's second-half goal was the completion of a strong build-up that began on the right flank with redshirt junior Martin Montoya, who worked his way to the byline, then knifed past his mark before whipping a cross through the six-yard box that deflected off the diving Belmont goalkeeper. It popped up to junior midfielder Carlos Nevarez, who redirected it towards the goalmouth, where Sabanovic alertly poked the ball home from three yards out for his second goal of the season.

The Flames had several chances in the closing moments to pad their lead, most notably in the 87th minute, when second-team All-MVC junior midfielder Sebastian Khoury curled a shot that beat the keeper but caromed hard off the right post.

UIC finished with an 18-9 edge in total shots, including a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal, as well as a 9-1 margin on corner kicks. Graduate student goalkeeper Owen Cornell made four saves to earn his third shutout of the season, and fourth for the Flames, who also got an alert early team save from senior defender Takeru Chiba, who knocked down a Bruin shot that was ticketed for goal in the 17th minute.

READY, SET, DRAW
Finishing with a share of the spoils has become a regular occurrence for UIC in the past two seasons (2025-26), as the Flames have recorded nine draws in that time (five last year, four this season). By comparison, UIC had nine draws combined in the six prior seasons (2019-24), including none in 2024 and one apiece in 2019 and 2020 (the latter a COVID-abbreviated season rescheduled to the spring of 2021).

ON THE FRONT FOOT
During all 16 matches this season, UIC has had large swaths of possession during each contest, making its 5-7-4 record quite deceiving. In fact, the Flames have outshot their opponents by more than 100 (291-160), including similar spreads in shots on goal (126-78) and on corner kicks (113-59).

NCAA RANKINGS
UIC ranks second in the nation in shots per match (18.19; NJIT is first at 19.22), third in shots on goal per match (7.88; defending national champion Washington is first at 8.12), and sixth in corner kicks per match (7.06; Akron leads at 7.69). Individually, junior midfielder Sebastian Khoury is fifth in shots on goal per match (MVC-leading 2.0), 16th in shot accuracy (.593) and 19th in shots per match (3.38).

A PRICELESS POINT
At No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll coming into its Sept. 29 draw at UIC, Notre Dame was the highest-ranked opponent UIC tied or defeated since Sept. 6, 2014 (0-0 vs. No. 7 Michigan State). It was also the Flames' first result of any kind against a Top 25 team since Sept. 3, 2021 (2-2 double-overtime draw at No. 16 Saint Louis). In addition, UIC captured its second-ever point against a current Atlantic Coast Conference school and first since Sept. 13, 2009 (1-1 in double OT at Louisville in the UofL Invitational).

UP NEXT: MVC TOURNAMENT FINAL
The winner of Wednesday's MVC Tournament semifinal will advance to the championship match to be played this weekend. With a victory, UIC would go on the road to either No. 3 Western Michigan (Saturday) or No. 2 Evansville (Sunday). Kickoff time will be determined following Wednesday's semifinals, while ESPN+ will carry the MVC Tournament final live. 

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).

 
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