2008 Woodie Awards
Road warriors return home
Top 10 ranked Flames begin October on top of Horizon League
Matt Piechalak
Issue date: 10/2/06 Section: Sports
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Media Credit: Steve WoltmannAfter their first week as a consensus Top 10 team, Coach Trask and the Flames prepare to welcome UW-Milwaukee to Flames Field.
After a full month of road contest, the return to a home field will be a nice change for the UIC Men's Soccer team. Not that the road was unkind to the Top 10 ranked Flames. The extraordinary 2-1 OT win against Bradley on Sept. 3 was a fitting send off, one that would lead to a month of records never accomplished by a UIC soccer team in school history; records that have the soccer nation highlighting UIC as a legitimate contender in the run for the 48th Annual Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
For those of you who read this in disbelief, those of you who claim that 'UIC doesn't have any good sports teams,' now is the time to wake up. For the past four weeks, the Flames have continued to climb in the national polls, and last week, the Flames became a consensus Top 10 team, earning top 10 statuses in all four national polls. UIC came in as high as No. 6 in the Soccer Times Coaches Poll last week.
They also moved up to No. 7 in the NSCAA/adidas National Rankings, No. 9 in the Soccer America Magazine Top 25, and No. 10 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. The Flames (7-1-2) were also featured in Soccer America last Tuesday.
As the weeks of September floated by, and the dominating performance by this well-balanced team continued to stack, the nation began to direct more and more focus to this Illinois-Chicago team that was picked to finish behind Detroit in the Horizon League just a little over a month ago. Now, 'national powerhouse' seems like the most fitting term to describe Coach John Trask's team.
"Teams are up for us," explained Trask. "When you're up there ranked, it's a whole new ballgame."
Despite the pressure associated with the concept of "a whole new ballgame," and the growing media attention, the Flames remained calm, cool, and collected on their 4-week, 6 game September road-swing. They finished 4-1-1 on the trip. They outscoring their opposition 12-3 and have held the top spot in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes Region Rankings for two consecutive weeks now.
As of Sept. 26, UIC was listed in the top 5 in several NCAA statistical categories. The only letdown in September came last Thursday, when UIC was delivered their first loss of the year, (1-0), at the hands of the Big Ten Badgers up in Madison. Despite controlling possession most of the match, the Flames could not produce a quality shot and an Eric Conklin header off a free kick would find its way passed freshman goalkeeper, Jovan Bubonja.
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For those of you who read this in disbelief, those of you who claim that 'UIC doesn't have any good sports teams,' now is the time to wake up. For the past four weeks, the Flames have continued to climb in the national polls, and last week, the Flames became a consensus Top 10 team, earning top 10 statuses in all four national polls. UIC came in as high as No. 6 in the Soccer Times Coaches Poll last week.
They also moved up to No. 7 in the NSCAA/adidas National Rankings, No. 9 in the Soccer America Magazine Top 25, and No. 10 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. The Flames (7-1-2) were also featured in Soccer America last Tuesday.
As the weeks of September floated by, and the dominating performance by this well-balanced team continued to stack, the nation began to direct more and more focus to this Illinois-Chicago team that was picked to finish behind Detroit in the Horizon League just a little over a month ago. Now, 'national powerhouse' seems like the most fitting term to describe Coach John Trask's team.
"Teams are up for us," explained Trask. "When you're up there ranked, it's a whole new ballgame."
Despite the pressure associated with the concept of "a whole new ballgame," and the growing media attention, the Flames remained calm, cool, and collected on their 4-week, 6 game September road-swing. They finished 4-1-1 on the trip. They outscoring their opposition 12-3 and have held the top spot in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes Region Rankings for two consecutive weeks now.
As of Sept. 26, UIC was listed in the top 5 in several NCAA statistical categories. The only letdown in September came last Thursday, when UIC was delivered their first loss of the year, (1-0), at the hands of the Big Ten Badgers up in Madison. Despite controlling possession most of the match, the Flames could not produce a quality shot and an Eric Conklin header off a free kick would find its way passed freshman goalkeeper, Jovan Bubonja.
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