Aug. 29, 2008

Box Score

Chicago, Ill.- A second-period burst of offense, capped by Baggio Husidic's equalizing penalty kick, opened the 2008 season in dramatic fashion as the 16th-ranked UIC men's soccer team played to a 2-2 draw with UMKC at Flames Field on Friday night.

The Flames (0-0-1) scored first but found themselves trailing late until a foul in the box committed by the Kangaroos (0-0-1) gave the home side a penalty opportunity that was converted by Husidic with six minutes remaining in regulation.

Just over five minutes after intermission, Husidic began the night's goal-scoring by playing give-and-go with Matt Spiess and making a superb run with the ball on the left side. He sent a pass near the top of the penalty area to older brother Alen Husidic, who settled and fired a rocket shot past UMKC keeper Ken Cooper for the match's inaugural marker.

In the 78th minute the Kangaroos would be awarded a penalty kick after the referee called a handball foul in the box on the Flames. Bryan Perez put the uninhibited attempt past Jovan Bubonja to even the contest.

UIC found itself trailing a mere 96 seconds later, when the Kangaroos countered quickly and forward Brian Harris sprinted through the defense from the middle to the left side of the box for a clear shot that nestled into the right corner.

The Flames pressed on, and a long pass from the right of midfield in the 84th minute created enough of a threat to cause a Kangaroo defender to foul in front of the goal. The referee awarded a PK to UIC, and the younger Husidic took the honors and scored the match's final tally.

UIC created its share of quality overtime opportunities, particularly early in the first extra session, but neither squad could attain a golden goal to its credit.

"These are early-season games," said UIC head coach John Trask. "They're tight, and everybody starts 0-0-0. The first game of the season is always very difficult, especially at home, because there are expectations put on you. Sometimes it can go very well and you can jump on a team and get up by a couple of goals and it becomes a great night. More often than not it ends up being a little bit of a war and a gut-check.

"In that respect, I am very pleased that, after they scored with 13 minutes left, we battled back and got that equalizer. That's a good sign out of a team early in the season, that they didn't fold.

"Hats off to UMKC, [head coach] Rick Benben, [assistant coach] Fred Schlichting and their coaching staff," said Trask. "As I knew from following them last year, anyone who thinks that UMKC is not a good team on a Friday night doesn't look at the scores. Reading over their stats, we knew they were a good team, especially in their first games of the weekend, and we knew that they have beaten some good teams. They came to get a result and they got it, and you have to respect that."

The opening period featured a plethora of interesting scoring chances for the Flames. A Julian Serrato service into the box early into play found the right boot of streaking Ian Sarachan square in front of the goal, but the latter player fell victim to an unlucky attempt that sailed wide. Sarachan also created a good attempt moments later that went high.

A pair of intriguing headball chances were slightly off the mark. Matt Spiess' header off a brilliant cross went past the far post, and Pat McMahon's shot off the noggin was done in by a nice Cooper stop.

Trask discussed what he saw from his team in first regular season match of 2008.

"Our finishing is not where it needs to be," said Trask. "Our final pass and final decision in and around the goal has got to be better. We talk about it, we work on it and we're going to continue to work on it. It's an area that we had enough penetration tonight in good spots on the field. If there were only three shots on goal, considering the amount of chances we had, it just proves that it can be a cruel game.

"My biggest disappointment is with some of the individual defending. It just has to be better."

The Flames' boss also talked about the game played by the younger Husidic brother.

"Baggio's an unbelievable player," Trask said. "He's a handful for the other team. Almost every time he touched the ball they were trying to get two, three, sometimes four guys around him. A goal and an assist...shoot, I didn't even think he played that great of a game. That's how good of a player he is."

UIC returns to the pitch at Flames Field this Monday night against two-time NCAA champion Santa Clara, the top-ranked team in TopDrawerSoccer's preseason national rankings, beginning at 7 p.m. The adidas Mobile Tour will be outside of the field before the game, with giveaways, games and autographs from Chicago Fire back Bakary Soumare, and Alumni Night festivities will be celebrated throughout the evening.