Horizon League Moments: UIC Men's Soccer Goes to the Elite Eight

Note: With the Horizon League celebrating the 10th anniversary of its name change, the League will be looking back at significant moments from the last 10 years. 

Having failed to win the Horizon League title since 2000 and reaching the NCAA Tournament just one time since, the UIC Flames were hungry to build upon a 2006 NCAA Tournament berth the following year. What they accomplished was something just one other team in the history of Horizon League men's soccer surpassed.

The UIC Flames entered the 2007 Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament as the No. 3 seed after tallying a 4-1-3 mark in League play. Claiming the League's auto bid to NCAA Tournament, the Flames were sent to Saint Louis to start the tournament.

Intent on building on their one-win appearance in the 2006 tournament, the Flames battled the host nationally-ranked Billikens to a draw through two overtimes, eventually moving on after a thrilling 6-5 win on penalty kicks. UIC looked as if it was primed to advance early in the PKs, as the Flames dented the twine on its first three penalty kicks and goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja stopped two of the first three shots on frame.

However, St. Louis converted its next three kicks, while UIC converted just one, putting the Flames on the brink of elimination. UIC would convert, though, and after Bubonja stoned the Billikens next attempt, Matt Spiess, a St. Louis native, beat the keeper to send UIC on to the second round.

The reward for UIC? A trip to Chicago rival Northwestern, who had been given a bye in the 48-team field. The No. 9 national seed was shocked by the Flames, 2-0, at Lakeside Park before a capacity crowd. The UIC defense stood tall early, knocking a would-be goal off the line in the 49th minute to stymie the Wildcats before Kevin Stoll headed in the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute to give the Flames all the scoring they would need.

Advancing to the Sweet 16, UIC would once again meet a national seed, this time coming in the form of No. 8 Creighton. In just the program's second-ever trip to the third round, the Flames again used a late goal to claim the win, with Ian Sarachan converting in the 74th minute to lift UIC past the Bluejays in Omaha, Neb. A stout defensive effort limited Creighton to just one shot on goal in the game.

UIC continued its road trip through the tournament, heading to Amherst, Mass., to meet Massachusetts with a College Cup bid on the line. Fighting back to knot the game at 1, UIC would ultimately fall to UMass, 2-1, after an 80th minute tally sent the Minutemen on their way to Cary, N.C.

The Flames' run to the Elite Eight remains the deepest run in Horizon League history since Evansville went to the College Cup semifinals in 1990.