CHICAGO – On Flames Field, the UIC women's soccer team hosted the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for a Sunday afternoon contest. A back-and-forth battle, momentum would shift in favor of the Hilltoppers (5-0-2, 0-0 CUSA) in the 60
th minute when the Flames (0-5-2, 0-0 MVC) fell to 10 players following a red card.
Finding themselves on the defensive end, the Flames would hold strong, with
Sidney Lazenby recording multiple saves throughout the match.
Unfortunately for the Flames, a breakthrough in the 88
th minute went in favor of the visitors as the Hilltoppers took a late lead. With little time remaining, UIC suffered a heartbreaking, 1-0 loss to Western Kentucky.
Prior to kickoff, the Flames celebrated their five seniors:
Emmy Higgins,
Amina Marin,
Camryn Ries,
Kamryn Brickman, and
Julia Thomson.
FIRST HALF
The Flames and Hilltoppers matched up evenly through the first half, with both sides recording six shots.
Becca Ruggiero notched the first shot of the game in the 5
th minute of action.
In the 17
th minute,
Jennifer Rodriguez placed a shot towards the center of the net, forcing the Hilltoppers' Mia Riddick to record a save.
With time ticking away,
Sidney Lazenby came up with a huge save in the 41
st minute to keep the score tied at 0-0 heading into the half.
SECOND HALF
After a quiet start to the half, intensity picked up when a foul outside the box resulted in a UIC red card.
With a free kick awarded to the Hilltoppers following the foul, Danielle Lewin sent a shot towards the goal, where Lazenby cleanly recorded a save in the 60
th minute.
In the 67
th minute, Lazenby recorded her fifth save of the contest with a diving attempt.
With the Flames down a player for much of the second half, they found themselves on the defensive end as the Hilltoppers consistently applied pressure on goal.
Between the 76
th and 78
th minutes, the Flames ripped off shots from
Elyse DeSchryver,
Eleanor Stone, and
Emily Crotty. DeSchryver and Crotty placed their shots on frame.
In the closing minutes of the game, the Hilltoppers found the back of the net in the 88
th minute with a goal from Tyler Roth off a Georgia Liapis assist.
Unable to respond, the Flames fell to the Hilltoppers 1-0.
The full box score and play-by-play recap can be found
here.
UP NEXT
The Flames will be back in action on Thursday when they welcome the Western Illinois Leathernecks for their final non-conference match of the 2026 season. Kickoff on Flames Field is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CT
Thursday's match will be a doubleheader for UIC, with the women's team kicking off at 4:00 p.m. and the men's team at 7:00 p.m.
The Flames will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month during Thursday's doubleheader.
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
For more information, 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).
#ChicagosCollegeTeam
