Salukis conclude regular season on Sunday at UIC

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (8-3-4) will finish off the regular season on Sunday at 12 p.m. against UIC.

Details
Who: University of Illinois Chicago Flames (4-6-5 overall, 4-2-3 MVC)
Time: 12 p.m.
Date: Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022
Where: Flames Field - Chicago, Ill.
Live Stats: Here
Watch: ESPN3

Quick Hits

Southern Illinois enters its final game of the regular season with a record of 8-3-4 overall and 5-1-3 in conference play.
The Salukis currently sit in third place in the Valley. They are two points behind Valparaiso in second place, who has a record of 6-1-2 in league play. Southern Illinois would need a win and a Valpo loss on Sunday to earn the second seed. If the Beacons draw and the Salukis win, both teams would have the same amount of points and conference record. The tiebreaker would be goal differential in Valley play, which has Valpo (+11) ahead of SIU (+4).
If UIC, who is one one game behind Southern Illinois, were to win on Sunday, then the Flames would take third place while SIU would finish in fourth. The third and fourth place teams will both host a match next Sunday, Oct. 30, in the MVC tournament, as well as a neutral contest on Thursday, Oct. 27.
In their last match, the Salukis tied with Valparaiso, 1-1, on the road. Liz Brechtel scored the opening goal in the 62nd minute off of a Lara Barbieri assist. Five minutes later, however, the Beacons scored the equalizer through Lindsey Dusatko to lead to the 1-1 draw.
The draw extended Southern Illinois' unbeaten streak to six matches. This is the second six-match unbeaten streak of the season for SIU, with the previous one lasting from Sept. 1 to Sept. 25.
The Salukis have conceded just three goals during this stretch, out-scoring their opponents, 7-3.
Southern Illinois is second in the Valley in goals-against average (0.93) and third in goals per game (1.20).
SIU has found success both in Carbondale and away from home, posting a home record of 4-2-3 and road record of 4-1-1.
Brechtel's four goals are the most on the team, followed by Emma Spotak's three. Christy Murauskis and Kaitlin DuCharme have both scored twice and are tied for third on the team.
Brechtel also leads the team in assists with two on the season. Spotak, Murauskis, Barbieri, Georgina Franco, McKinley Stiff, and Ashlyn Henrie all have one each.
Franco was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts against Murray State and Illinois State last week. The senior played a total of 166 minutes across the pair of shutouts, and had one assist during the week.
Senior Maddy Alaluf has been featured the most in-goal, starting in 11 matches. Alaluf has allowed 11 goals and made 51 saves, while also putting up a 1.00 goals-against average and 0.823 save percentage.
Sophomore Ary Lougher has started the last three matches in-goal for the Salukis, allowing just one goal in 270 minutes played and has made eight saves.
Sam Dodd leads the team in shots (30) and is tied for the most shots-on-goal (12) with Paris Walsh.
Sam DeJulio has played the most minutes on the team with 1350.

Looking at UIC

The Flames hold a record 4-6-5 overall, but are 4-2-3 in conference play.
Heading into Sunday, UIC is in fourth place in the Valley.
In their last match on Thursday, the Flames shut-out Indiana State, 1-0. Sophia Jaime scored the game-winning goal in the 55th minute off of a Makenna Maloy assist. UIC out-shot Indiana State, 28-4, overall and in terms of shots-on-goal, 13-0.
The Flames are 3-1-1 in their last five games, with the lone loss being a 1-0 defeat at Missouri State on Oct. 16.
UIC is fifth in the Valley in goals-against average (1.14) and 10th in goals per game (0.60).
Jaime is the team's leader in goals with four on the season. Valeria Da Silva is second with two.
Jelena Zbiljic leads the Flames in assists with two on the year.
Lauren Keiser has played the most minutes (1170) in-goal for UIC, and has allowed 10 goals and made 41 saves. Keiser has a goals-against average of 0.77 and save percentage of 0.804.
David Nikolic is UIC's head coach, and is in his second season with the team.

Series History

Sunday's match will be the first meeting all-time between the two programs.

Upcoming Schedule

Southern Illinois' first-ever appearance in the MVC tournament is what lies ahead for the team. If the Salukis finish in either third or fourth place, their next game will be at home on Sunday with their opponent yet to be determined. If SIU finishes as the second seed, it will receive a bye and not play next weekend.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Soccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiSoccer and on Instagram at @SIU_Soccer. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maddy Alaluf

Liz Brechtel

Sam DeJulio

Sam Dodd

Kaitlin DuCharme

Georgina Franco

Ashlyn Henrie

Ary Lougher

Christy Murauskis

Emma Spotak

McKinley Stiff

Paris Walsh

Scoreboard

Upcoming Events