Aug. 17, 2001

Chicago, Ill. - The University of Illinois at Chicago men's soccer team has been picked to repeat as Horizon League champions in the preseason poll of the league's eight coaches it was announced today.

UIC, which has won the league's regular-season and tournament titles the past two seasons, narrowly edged out UW-Milwaukee for first. The Flames received four first-place votes and totaled 43 points while the Panthers also snagged four first-place votes, but tallied just 41 total points to come in second.

Following UIC and UW-Milwaukee in the poll was Wright State (31 points), Loyola (30 points), UW-Green Bay (26 points), Butler (24 points), Detroit (20 points) and Cleveland State (9 points).

Last fall, UIC enjoyed its best season ever as it reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament while racking up a school record 18 wins. The Flames shared the conference regular-season title with Loyola as both compiled a 5-1-1 record, but UIC swept through the conference tournament and defeated UW-Green Bay, 3-1, in the title game to capture their second straight post-season championship.

The Flames kick off the 2001 campaign over the Labor Day Weekend at the UCSB Kappa Klassic in Santa Barbara, Calif.