Oct. 4, 2000

They call him Mooch. Everyone - his friends, teammates, coaches and even his family calls him Mooch.

"Mooch has been my nickname ever since I was two years old," Dennis King, a freshman on the UIC soccer team explained. "When I was little, I would notice people chewing gum or candy and go right up to them, complete strangers, and ask them for a piece. One day my mom said, 'You know, you're a big mooch,' and that name has stuck ever since."

Webster's Dictionary defines the slang term mooch as "someone who gets by wheedling or coaxing."

Well one thing is certain - King, his candy-begging days behind him, has had to do no coaxing or wheedling to find his way into the Flames' starting lineup this fall. His strong play and hard work earned the youngster a promotion recently to the starting lineup and he's dazzled ever since.

King, who leads the 7-1-2 Flames against UW-Green Bay tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m., came to UIC this fall after a standout career at United Township High School in Colona, Ill., which is located near the Quad Cities.

Last season as a senior, King led the Panthers to a 24-0-1 undefeated mark with a school-record 41 goals and 24 assists for 105 points. Following the year, he collected player of the year accolades as well as all-conference, all-metro, all-midwest and all-state honors.

No longer a one-man scoring show, King and his UIC teammates are off to a great start this fall as they hit midseason mark. With their 2-0-1 league record, the Flames are eyeing up their second straight Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship and King will certainly factor into their success. Through 10 games, he is UIC's highest scoring rookie and tied for third overall with a pair of goals and three assists for seven points.

"Mooch has really worked hard this season and has been a big plus for us," Head Coach Sasha Begovic said. "When I recruited him, I didn't expect him to start this soon, but he has matured very quickly and has been a big part of our success this season."

The 5-foot-10 King, who is the first player from United Township to earn a scholarship to play at an NCAA Division I institution, comes from a true soccer family as his two older brothers and younger sister all play the sport. The first from the King clan to play collegiate soccer, Mooch began his road to UIC at a young age.

"I started playing soccer when I was five, but it was introduced to me when I was three, when my oldest brother Scott started to play," King said. "My next oldest brother, Ryan, also played and now soccer has even gone down to my little sister, Emily. Soccer was just a good fit for me - you don't need to be 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. I've been blessed to have two brothers who taught me the skills I needed to play at this level."

King, who plans to major in psychology, sees the Flames coming together at the right time to reach the next level, a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, as the MCC Tournament and its automatic bid, is less than a month away.

"We've had a real successful season so far," King said. "We started slow, but now everyone is starting to feel more comfortable with their roles. We're more of a team now and we're all on the same page."

King and the Flames, who will look to extend their 20-game home winning streak tomorrow, would like nothing better than to duplicate a page from last year's storybook season, which ended with UIC's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. If Mooch has his way, the Flames will do just that.