Megan Bowman became UIC's all-time leading goal scorer as she staked the Flames to an early lead against Marquette Thursday night. The Golden Eagles drew level in the second half, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
"I'm very happy with the effort. We started the game with the right mindset and acted on the gameplan, and it showed,"
David Nikolic said. "There were huge stretches of the game where we were better. I believe the way we were playing, we forced them into a lot of mistakes and that's the way we want to play."
Scoring Summary
- Bowman scored her 11th career goal, and the team's first of the season, in the 23rd minute. Jelena Zbiljic lofted a ball into the box, where it met Bowman's head and went across the goal face and in.
- Marquette pulled the goal back in the 75th minute. Play went into the box, where Kaysey Castro and Yulexi Diaz converged on the lone Eagle in the area. But Josie Bieda poked the ball around them, spun herself clear, and beat an on-rushing Lauren Keiser.
Megan Bowman, who entered the match with just one shot on the season, had a breakout offensive game and in doing so, staked the Flames to their first lead of the campaign. She nearly poked in a goal in the 11
th minute when the keeper got out of position defending a free kick. Her shot out of traffic rolled toward an empty net until a defender cleared it off the line.
"We had the most dangerous opportunities of the first half," Nikolic observed. "Jelena's been working on her crosses. It was great for Megan to get her record-setting goal. I'm really happy for her because she deserves it."
Bowman finished with game-highs of four shots and three on goal. Her final attempt was a header off a set piece that landed on top of the net, which was part of a handful of close calls before and after Marquette's goal. "She unshackled herself," Nikolic said of the fifth-year senior, adding, "she's been concerned with a lot of things – helping in defending, attacking, winning balls – she has a lot of passion but tonight she let herself find spots, got on the ball, was active in attacking areas, was creative, and scored a goal.
"As a veteran. she's gotten smarter and gotten into the right spots. We found a good position for her and she's taking advantage of those opportunities."
Lauren Keiser played all 90 minutes in goal for the second straight match. In an evenly played contest, she made several important plays to keep the hosts off the scoreboard. In addition to some quality saves, she came way off her line numerous times to disrupt breaks, and athletically plucked kicks out of midair before anyone could play them.
The only time that Keiser was out of position, it was Bowman cleaning up. Bowman headed a ball away from the net after UIC's keeper missed her punch of a free kick. Though Marquette's goal ended Keiser's streak of 254 scoreless minutes, she was not tested again after the goal thanks to the Flames' resilience and determination to find a game-winner.
"The first half for goalkeepers on that end of the field is hard," Nikolic noted. "The fans are right there and there are a lot of things you don't normally get in college soccer. She had to filter a lot of that. I was proud of her performance. She faced a couple of challenges that she made look easy. It rolled into the second half and I thought she did well."
After UIC's lead vanished, Makena Shaw got into the box, battled through a tackle and worked open for a shot, which Marquette's keeper blocked. Later, a promising advance built up but the cross found nobody. Sophia Jaime had an 87
th minute try, shooting right as she drifted left, that forced a diving save.
The Flames made the most of their chances, putting seven of their nine shots on goal. The flow of the match favored each side in turn – the Flames had nine shots to the Eagles' eight, and UIC took more corners by a slim 3-2 margin – but the overall quality of UIC's possession and chances may have been their best of the season.
"The intensity we played with, we had lots of girls making sprints down the line and sprints in the back, started at the beginning and carried and was good," Nikolic summed up. "We got the goal we needed. Now it will be key for us to keep momentum going and keep pushing the intensity. Hopefully we can put it all together on Sunday. We're still working on it, but it's a lot of fun."
UIC will return to Flames Field on Sunday to host Miami (Ohio) at 1 p.m. The match will feature the team's Senior Day ceremony.