CHICAGO, Ill. - The top two team defenses in the Horizon League met Wednesday night and one goal was enough for a victory, as UIC edged the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team 1-0 at Flames Field.

The Panthers (10-2-1, 3-2-0 Horizon League) came in with the top defense (0.72 GAA) in the league, with the Flames (10-3-0, 3-0-0 Horizon League) a close second (0.74 GAA). Jesus Torres' goal in the 66th minute stood up, handing Milwaukee its first loss on the road this season in a game that pitted a pair of teams that were both ranked in the NCSAA Great Lakes regional poll.

"Give credit to UIC - they are a good team. They came to play tonight and that showed," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We needed to bring our `A' game against a team like that and tonight we did not do that. I thought we regrouped at half and came out in the second on a really good note. We had possession and energy, but it again came down to our effectiveness in the final third to reward ourselves and we were not sharp enough."

UIC held the Panthers to a season-low nine shots on the night. Three of those came in the closing minutes of the contest, but none found the back of the net for the equalizer.

Senior Austin Toth volleyed a long cross just wide into the side netting in the 90th minute, freshman Kostas Kotselas saw his close-range header go just past the post in the 87th and junior Luke Goodnetter's blast from distance went inches wide of the post in the 85th minute.

"Our passing was not as good as it has been for the majority of the year and tonight we got caught," Kelderman said. "But at the same time, we can all look in the mirror tonight and know that we had some poor individual performances. And that's not finger-pointing or anything like that, that's everybody."

Freshman Liam Anderson made a brilliant save in the 82nd minute to keep the deficit at one goal, one of three saves he was credited for on the night. Andrew Putna needed just a pair of saves for his league-leading eighth shutout of the campaign.

The first 45 minutes featured those defenses both ways, with neither team getting too many quality chances. The Flames took advantage of a UWM foul in the box for the best chance to take the lead, but Slobodan Aleksov sent his penalty kick attempt rifling off the cross bar, keeping the match scoreless in the 32nd minute.

The UWM defense held tight otherwise, allowing just four other shots in the first half, only one on target. The Panthers were credited with four shot attempts of their own, with junior Rami Younes a main contributor on two of them. In the 15th minute, he made a nice move past the backline defense on end line, but his shot was punched away.

Five minutes later it was Younes creating, picking up a turnover along the back line and feeding senior James Ashcroft, who was wide open on the far side of the goal box. But, his shot was launched well high. Sophomore Declan Rodriguez also had a go at it right before intermission, but his attempt was blocked just before the horn sounded.

For the match, UWM recorded nine of the 21 shots, half of the six corner kicks and 13 of the 35 fouls.

Up next, the Panthers play host for in-state rival Wisconsin on Wednesday to start a two-game homestand for the week. The match against the Badgers is set to start at 8 p.m. following the completion of the UWM women's game that night.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Favorite Picks of the 2025 MLS Draft

Commitments: Bradley Heads to the Big East

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Girls