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Stanisavljevic Scores With 27 Seconds Left, Men's Soccer Beats Milwaukee
Oct. 17, 2009
CHICAGO- What appeared to be a Saturday stalemate headed for overtime was instead a match won by a head. Ivan Stanisavljevic scored on a crisp header off of Mike Giffin's perfectly-placed corner kick with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to propel the UIC men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Milwaukee at Flames Field. The Flames (5-4-4, 2-1-1 Horizon League) won for the second straight time and pitched their second consecutive clean sheet. Milwaukee (3-8-2, 2-2-2 Horizon League) saw a four-match unbeaten streak snapped. With the game scoreless and just under 89 minutes in the books, UIC's final assault forward eventually determined the result. Charlie Trout put a shot on target that was stopped by Panther keeper John Shakon but sailed over the goal line wide of the right post, earning the Flames a corner kick with a minute left. Giffin took the honors, and the result was a ball kicked away by a Panther defender that sailed out of play wide of the post for a repeat corner. Time wound down, and Giffin bent a splendid corner toward a plentiful gathering by the near post with just 32 seconds until the final horn. Stanisavljevic was the winner of the gravitational challenge that engaged most of the players on the pitch once Giffin's boot battered ball. The rookie midfielder out-leaped the group and crushed the pelota with his cranium to direct the sphere into the far corner of the frame successfully. Saturday marked the second time in the last three home matches that Stanisavljevic, UIC's leading scorer with six goals, tallied a game-winning marker within the final two minutes of regulation. The Flames cleared Milwaukee's last-ditch charge and sealed a crucial conference decision.
"Compliments to Milwaukee and their coaching and their team," said UIC head coach John Trask. "It was a great college soccer game. Tactically they were very smart, they were trying to catch us on the counter. We had some really good plays by our back four to stop them. "There were some good counters happening," Trask said. "They weren't just sitting in. I felt we were patiently aggressive like we needed to be against that sort of team." Patience was indeed necessary for the Flames, who were the predominant aggressors yet could not light up the scoreboard for most of the match. Led by dangerous intrusions into the Panthers' penalty box often engineered by Kevin Stoll, UIC was able to outshoot Milwaukee by a 12-3 margin. Stoll had an early opportunity of his own in the 24th minute that necessitated a save by Shakon to prevent a UIC goal, and a dandy run by Brandon Wallce toward frame in the final minutes of the first half was accentuated with a fine touch by Stoll to Wallace that was conceived as a threat but wide of the goal. UIC continued to create distress for Shakon and the Panther defense, and the most dangerous chances were released by rookies. Joe Radice had what appeared to be a clean view of the goal and sent a shot that was tipped by a Milwaukee toe in the final stages of flight to re-direct the attempt wide, while Stanisavljevic took a free kick from just outside of the box's central top that went just inches above the crossbar. The Panthers would impose slight peril that had a lifespan between the 70th and 77th minutes, moving ahead with crosses and shots that almost induced harm. Jovan Bubonja made a brilliantly-athletic and well-timed leaping grab of Matthew Bewley's high attempt in the 76th minute, and Greg Rosenthal had a close-range look that was turned away by the backline. Possession would teeter and totter a bit until the Flames' winning push. "As I told the guys before the game: it's a Horizon League game," Trask said. "They haven't had a game in a week, we played on Wednesday in an emotional game; it's one of those nights that you can score in the first minute, you can score in the 89th minute, you can score in the ninth minute of the second overtime, that's the night it is. "You have to believe and have to keep doing the right things, and I think 98 percent of the time we did. Rather than our heads going down and saying "this is one of those games, we're never going to score," our guys just believed and kept working." UIC hosts Western Illinois this Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. It is Scarf Night, in which the first 400 students to attend the UIC volleyball match that same night at the Flames Athletic Center at 5 p.m. and bring their volleyball ticket to the soccer match will get the newly-designed UIC scarf courtesy of UIC Athletics. Fans can listen to podcasts featuring exclusive interviews with UIC head coaches, staff and student-athletes in two ways: 1. Download the free UIC Athletics Widget and click on the "UIC Flames Podcasts" link 2. Download podcasts for free on iTunes by searching "UIC Flames." Fans wishing to learn more about affordable and flexible UIC ticket plans are encouraged to call 312-413-UIC1 or visit www.uicflames.com and click on the "Tickets" tab on the Flames home page. |
