CHICAGO – UIC relied on veteran leadership, determination and great effort from the entire squad to get past the Milwaukee Panthers in the Horizon League opener for both teams, 1-0, on a beautiful Saturday night at Flames Field.
 
"It's great to start the Horizon League season off with a win, especially against an opponent with the quality of Milwaukee" said UIC head coach Sean Phillips. "They've been a longtime rival and they're a very tough team. It was going to take a special effort for our guys to get the result tonight.
 
The teams traded chances throughout the early stages of the opening half. UIC's Oscar Rivero got off the night's shot in the 22^nd minute, but his challenged effort sailed high. Milwaukee's Ben Krolczyk and UIC's Max Todd each had scoring chances, but both goalkeepers, Andrew Putna for the Flames and Sam Glass for the Panthers, were up to the task early.
 
Todd's shot led to a UIC corner kick and the Flames cashed in. Todd, a Scottish sophomore, served the ball in from the left corner in the 37^th minute; Rivero made a run and leapt in the air to connect with the pass, burying it past Glass for his first tally of the season, and first as a member of the Flames.
 
"We've been spending a lot of time in training on set pieces," said Phillips. "[Associate head coach] Aleksey [Korol] drew this up. He found some opportunistic areas that we could go to. Set pieces take two things; excellent service, which Max Todd was hitting all night, and guys making committed runs. Oscar Rivero made a committed run and knocked it right back from where it came. It really got us that lift that we needed."
 
Milwaukee fired off two more shots in the waning minutes of the first half, but neither was on target and UIC maintained a 1-0 lead at the half.
 
The Panthers continued to push forward, but the backline for the Flames was continually up to the task. Putna made another save, one of three on his clean sheet, in the 51^st minute, turning away Reid Stevenson.
 
The fierce rivals continued to battle for possession throughout the second period. The affair was testy at times and six cautions were issued in the second half alone. There were eight in the match, and the two sides were whistled for a combined 65 fouls on the night.
 
UIC's defensive effort was stout in throughout, but particularly in the final 10 minutes of action. Milwaukee had possession for much of the time, but Putna made a stop of a shot by Francesco Saporito in the 83^rd minute, which proved to be the last quality chance. The Panthers had two corner kicks in the final 6:40, but on both occasions, the home side was very much up to the task.
 
It was the first shutout of the season for Putna. The Lemont, Ill., native has 24 clean sheets in his UIC career dating back to the 2013 season.
 
"I think tonight showed a little bit of a glimpse of the character in this group," said Phillips. "The older players on this team have been keeping us going in the right direction. It was outstanding that someone like Oscar Rivero got the game winner, and our goalkeeper made a couple of tremendous saves. The upperclassmen were really able to lead the charge."
 
Next up for the Flames, a crosstown clash with the DePaul Blue Demons in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 3 p.m. The Flames were victorious in their last trip to the city's north side, winning 1-0 on a goal from Sasha Simon on Sept. 17, 2015. UIC resumes Horizon League play with a trip to Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, Sept. 17, to face the Wright State Raiders.