CHICAGO, Ill. - Paige Lincicum and Anna Smalley were at it again Friday night, each coming through to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team claim a 1-0 victory over UIC at Flames Field in downtown Chicago.
 
Lincicum extended her scoreless streak in goal to 615:10 on the season with her fifth consecutive shutout and Smalley netted her sixth game-winning goal in the 32^nd minute to help the Panthers (11-3-3, 8-0-1 Horizon League) past the Flames (5-12-2, 2-6-1 Horizon League) in the regular-season finale and to an unbeaten mark in conference play.
 
"I am proud of the team tonight, not just for winning this game but for going undefeated in the Horizon League," Milwaukee head coach Troy Fabiano said. "Now, we turn our focus to the Horizon League Tournament that we get to play in front of our home fans."
 
Unbeaten in their final nine games of the season (7-0-2), Milwaukee claimed its sixth 1-0 decision of the fall and the defense recorded its ninth clean sheet in 17 matches this year.
 
Smalley did it herself tonight, picking up a loose ball near midfield to give herself a breakaway chance. She made a move past the goalkeeper, evading her to the right and calmly finishing for her Horizon League-leading eighth goal of the season.
 
The goal came at the 31:17 mark and becomes the fourth time this season she has scored only goal of a 1-0 UWM victory. It was also her sixth game-winner of the season, the most in one year for any player in program history not named Sarah Hagen.
 
The Flames came out pressing, forcing Lincicum – who finished with four saves to claim her league-leading seventh shutout of the season – into a stop in just the first minute. The UIC defense also held tight early, not allowing the Panthers to record a shot until the 20^th minute. But UWM went on the offensive at that point. Smalley had an opportunity and sophomore Sydney Senn had a pair, including one that forced a save.
 
UWM also had a flurry starting in the 53^rd. Senior Kelsey Holbert was blocked, junior Ashley Burkhardt forced a save in the 54^th and classmate Kelly Manski nearly scored an insurance goal, clanging one off the crossbar at the 55:17 mark.
 
The defense stepped up in the second half, holding UIC without a shot from intermission up until the 69^th minute. Lincicum needed just one late save, coming in the 78^th minute on what would be the Flames last shot of the matchup, to extend her scoreless streak to 615:10, second in program history to only Erin Kane's 717:10 span in 2005.
 
For the game, Milwaukee held advantages of 13-to-9 in shots and 6-to-4 in shots on goal. The Panthers had four of the nine corner kicks on the night and were whistled for 12 of the 15 fouls.
 
As the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, the Panthers will play host to the event and have a bye in the first round. The team knows it will play Thursday at 7 p.m. at Engelmann Stadium, taking on the lowest remaining seed out of Monday's quarterfinals.

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