The 2013 Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championship is set for tomorrow’s finals matchup at 3 p.m. EST at Flames Field. UIC took 93 minutes to capture a 1-0 semifinal win over Wright State in overtime while Milwaukee had a 2-0 dominant performance against Oakland in the second game of the day.
On a windy afternoon in Chicago, the Flames and Raiders took the field with a Horizon League Championship and automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament in site. Much of the first half went back-and-forth between the two squads as neither kept possession for very long. The half ended with UIC outshooting Wright State 9-5 and leading in corners 3-2.
The game took a turn in the 64th minute when a yellow card was issued to Emeka Ononye that resulted after an altercation between the two squads. UIC bounced back with a furry and began to dominate possession and slowly take control of the game.
Raider goalkeeper Tyler Blackmer made four key saves in the second half for Wright State as UIC turned up its offensive pressure. The Flames took 12 shots in the final 45 minutes of regulation and fired up five corner kicks while the Raiders took five shots and had two corner kick opportunities.
Two minutes into overtime, a yellow card was issued to Jake Stovall after a handball in the box. The caution led to a penalty kick for UIC that was taken by Slobodan Aleksov. Aleksov shot the ball near the right corner of the net but was saved in diving fashion by Blackmer. The ball rebounded off of Blackmer’s save and Aleksov picked it up and placed the game-winner in the back of the net for his 10th goal of the year.
The second game of the afternoon between Milwaukee and Oakland was a physical matchup between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. It didn’t take long for the Panthers to take the lead as Co-Player of the Year Laurie Bell took a shot from outside the box that curved into the right corner of the net. The goal was Bell’s 13th on the year, leading the conference.
Milwaukee kept pressure on Oakland’s defense throughout the first half as Andrew Stone netted his second goal of the year in the 37th minute. Stone picked up a rebound in the box and fired it past the Grizzlies’ goalkeeper Sean Lewis. The Panthers led the first half in shots 8-2 while each team had two corner kick chances.
Oakland established better possession in the second half as they tripled their shots from the first and had four corner kick opportunities. The Grizzlies failed to find the back of the net on several chances as Milwaukee’s defense remained solid throughout the entire game.
No. 2 Milwaukee will face No. 1 UIC Sunday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. EST at Flames Field for the Horizon League Championship. The winner will receive an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament.
(1) UIC 1, (5) Wright State 0 (OT)
CHICAGO – The UIC men's soccer team kept its season alive Friday as it took down No. 5 Wright State, 1-0, at Flames Field in overtime to move on to the Horizon League Championship match set for Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Senior Slobodan Aleksov netted the game-winner in the 93rd minute on the rebound save from his penalty kick attempt.
The Flames improved their season record to 16-3-0, while picking up their 10th-straight win and 10th shutout of the season. Wright State moved to 6-11-2 as its season came to an end.
"Anytime you get into tournament play, there is a phrase in college athletics that we use a lot called ‘survive and advance,’ and that is what we did today," head coach Sean Phillips said. "When you have Wright State really putting everything together, feeling a second-lease on life to their season, it made things difficult. The weather conditions were also challenging and we handled that well in the first half. As the game progressed, I felt it was just a matter of time before we got one, and again, Slobodan (Aleksov) came through."
"Our attacking players did a very nice job of constantly applying pressure and believing that we were eventually going to get what was needed to win. Our backs, especially in the first half, handled things very well."
The Flames maintained strong possession in the first half and limited the Raiders to just five shots after continuously breaking up chances. UIC recorded nine attempts, with senior Bob Novak leading the way with three of his own, including one on goal.
UIC continued its push into the second half while Wright State presented a physical presence and tallied 12 fouls. The Flames created 12 total shots in the half from nine different players, with four on goal, and held the Raiders to another five attempts. Sophomore Jorge Alvarez led UIC in shots in the second half with three, while junior Jesus Torres put in an additional two.
With the match still scoreless, the Flames headed into overtime and in the 93rd minute, Wright State’s Jacob Stovall was charged with a foul in the box and received a yellow card, granting UIC a penalty kick. Aleksov took the shot for the Flames, which was turned away by goalkeeper Tyler Blackmer, but Aleksov stuck with it and put in the rebound for his 10th goal of the season and fourth game-winner.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Putna had to make just one save in 92:36 minutes of action and recorded his 10th shutout to improve his season GAA to 0.72, while Blackmer made six saves against UIC.
"It was an interesting 36 hours and we want to give Wright State credit for getting a very competitive game together in a unique situation," added Phillips. "From going through the rollercoaster of being told we are going to advance, and then six hours later being told we were then playing Saturday, I thought our team did a nice job of handling that psychologically."
The Flames will take on No. 2 Milwaukee in the Championship Final tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Flames Field after the Panthers defeated No. 3 Oakland, 2-0, Saturday. During the regular-season matchup, UIC came out on top of Milwaukee, 1-0, after Torres scored the lone goal in the 66th minute off a pass from Aleksov.
"Both teams have a very tough turnaround, but both have to deal with it," Phillips said. "Weather conditions will be a challenge again tomorrow, but the biggest challenge will be beating the Milwaukee Panthers. They are a top 50 RPI team, potentially the most challenging win we had over the course of the year here at Flames Field, and they looked very good tonight. We are looking forward to a very good, entertaining soccer game with two teams that have a small number of losses, know how to win games and play a really good brand of soccer."
(2) Milwaukee 2, (3) Oakland 0
CHICAGO, Ill. - Horizon League Player of the Year Laurie Bell scored in the 13th minute and senior Andrew Stone added an insurance strike in the 38th as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team defeated Oakland University, 2-0, Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament.
The Panthers (14-2-2) topped the Grizzlies (7-7-5) to earn a spot in the league championship, set to be played Sunday at Flames Field in Chicago with a start time of 2 p.m.
"It's exciting," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "Laurie's first goal was unbelievable and it's very fitting that he would be the guy to do something like that. He's been carrying us as far as goal-scoring goes this season and I knew he would be the guy to step up and make a play and he did exactly that today. Stone made a statement as well and helped us with our victory today as well."
The defense limited Oakland to just a pair of shots on goal in the contest, which was played under rainy and windy conditions that picked up noticeably in the second half.
"It was two halves," Kelderman said. "It was two different styles of soccer that you had to adjust to and play. With the wind, you have to be aggressive and go forward and you have to attack hard and take advantage of it. Against the wind you have to weather the storm and I think we handled both scenarios well tonight."
Freshman Liam Anderson made a pair of saves to pick up his ninth shutout of the season, just one off the school mark of 10.
Bell seemingly caught everyone off-guard with his 13th goal of the season, sending a long chip shot into the wind from near the sideline. It went up-and-over the outstretched keeper, banging in off the top right crossbar to give Milwaukee the 1-0 lead at the 12:22 mark.
The finish came off a pass from senior James Ashcroft, who did impressive work on a throw-in from senior Austin Toth to get Bell the ball in space.
Stone was in the right place at the right time for his goal, burying a shot attempt by sophomore Declan Rodriguez that was blocked by the defense right to him. He one-timed it past the diving keeper, just inside the left post to make it 2-0 at the 37:49 mark.
The Panthers dominated possession on the day and really made Oakland work in the second half. By the end of the contest, the rain was coming down in sheets and the flags were sideways, but the Grizzlies were having a tough enough time even possessing the ball, let along getting off shots, while frantically in search of any type of offense.
The Panthers had a couple of decent chances to find a third goal, but a great stop by OU keeper Sean Lewis in the 75th minute kept freshman Kostas Kotselas from scoring for the second-straight game on a close-range shot from the right wing. Senior Robbie Boyd was also denied in the 22nd minute on a one-on-one chance after running onto a thru ball after the defense had expected the offsides flag to go up.
For the game, Milwaukee held advantages of 12-10 in shots and 7-to-2 in shots on goal. Oakland recorded six of the 11 corner kicks and 25 of the 40 fouls, also taking three yellow cards and a late red card as well.
The Panthers will look to earn their ninth all-time trip to the NCAA Tournament tomorrow when they take on the top-seeded host UIC. The Flames advanced in the opening semifinal, surviving Wright State, 1-0, on a penalty kick in the 92nd minute of overtime.
"We have been working our butts off all season long," Kelderman said. "Amongst ourselves, we had expectations and one of them was to be here. We made it, we deserve to be here and certainly excited for one more match."
Kick off tomorrow is set for 2 p.m. and will be carried live on the Horizon League Network with Justin Weiner on the call.
Tags: Horizon League - Men's Soccer · Milwaukee - Men's Soccer · Oakland - Men's Soccer · UIC - Men's Soccer · Wright State - Men's Soccer
