Men’s Soccer’s Comeback Effort Narrowly Falls Short Against DePaul - UIC Athletics (2024)

CHICAGO (Aug. 22, 2024) – After taking an early lead in Thursday's season opener, the UIC men's soccer team (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MVC) surrendered four consecutive goals to the visiting DePaul Blue Demons (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Big East), and were unable to mount a complete comeback, dropping the match by a 4-3 final score.

Jack Finnegan (Chicago, Ill./Wisconsin) netted the first goal of the match for the Flames, as a transition assist from Rui Reis (Lisbon, Portugal/Antonio Damasio) gave the Flames the lead in the fourth minute. Reis added to his point total in the second half with his first goal of the season, and Paul Brauckmann (Welver, Germany) added a beauty of a goal off a free kick to pull within one goal. The comeback would fall just short, however, as UIC would fall by a final score of 4-3.

The full box score and play-by-play recap can be found here.

COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH SEAN PHILLIPS
"Give credit to DePaul," commented head coach Sean Phillips. "They stuck to their game plan and took the match to us after a quick start on our end. Plenty for us to learn from and work on moving forward after tonight."

FINAL

Flames' comeback effort falls just short

ESPN+?? https://t.co/6LJzi44pws
Stats ?? https://t.co/B6NDkhuOAA#ChicagosCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/rcRS6sREi7

— UIC Men's Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) August 23, 2024

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

4'

Jack Finnegan breaks away and finds the back of the net!

UIC: 1
DPU: 0

ESPN+?? https://t.co/6LJzi44pws
Stats ?? https://t.co/B6NDkhuOAA#ChicagosCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/yqvnyqjxQt

— UIC Men's Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) August 23, 2024

77'

Oskar Greven finds Rui Reis open for his first goal as a Flame to cut into DePaul's lead.

UIC: 2
DPU: 4

ESPN+?? https://t.co/6LJzi44pws
Stats?? https://t.co/B6NDkhuOAA#ChicagosCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/Q31Bbz1Tt6

— UIC Men's Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) August 23, 2024

86'

What a goal from Paul Brauckmann!

UIC: 3
DPU: 4

ESPN+?? https://t.co/6LJzi44pws
Stats ??https://t.co/B6NDkhuOAA pic.twitter.com/9cNHYTtaK3

— UIC Men's Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) August 23, 2024

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Finnegan's season opening goal was the first as a Flame for the Brother Rice graduate and transfer from Wisconsin.
• Transfer Rui Reis also tallied his first point in Chicago blue on the Finnegan goal, and added another on his first goal of the season.
• The Flames allowed four goals in a match for the first time since facing #19 Northwestern on Sept. 11 of 2023, a 4-1 defeat.
• Paul Brauckmann continued his dazzling free kick goals from a season ago, netting the third UIC goal in the 86^th minute.

UP NEXT

• The Flames will remain home for one more match, as UIC welcomes Green Bay (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Horizon) to Flames Field Sunday evening for a 7 p.m. kick-off.
• Sunday's match will not be broadcast on ESPN+, but admission will be free for all fans in attendance.
• Each Sunday home match this season will be Pups at the Pitch, where fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to Flames Field.

SUPPORT THE CHICAGO COLLECTIVE

• Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC scholar-athletes through contributions toThe Chicago Collective.

FOLLOW THE FLAMES

• For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MSOCand@UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_msocand@uicflames).