The men’s soccer team (3-6, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) was burned by the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames with a final score of 3-1, Tuesday.

Head Coach Ryan Swan was disappointed with the final result and said the team continues to not play to their capabilities in games.

“I thought we played a pretty good first half,” Swan said. “We were solid defensively and we were confident entering the second half, but I don’t think we kicked out our first gear until we conceited the first goal. We made the same mistakes that’s been costing us games again today.”

The Flames dominated the offensive side of the ball as they led the Huskies in shots by 11 at the end of the game. Creating more on goal chances (9) than the Huskies had shots (5).

The game went scoreless in the first half, but the Flames opened the scoring in the 54th minute as Oscar Gonzalez collected a redirected ball and got it past redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies were able to find the equalizer in the 67th minute when sophomore forward Jan Maertins took control of a ball sent from senior defender Giovanni Garcia and put into the back of the net past Flames goalkeeper Sawyer Jackman, to tie the game at a goal a piece and giving Maertins his fourth goal this season.

Swan said he is pleased with the recent play of Maertins.

“We knew that [Maertins] was going to be a good edition to the team when we got him,” Swan said. “It’s great that he has been playing [well] and he’s really been playing with confidence. It’s a silver lining for the team right now.”

The Flames retook the lead less than a minute later after a free kick just outside the box, Max Todd put a ball low and past Dziedzic giving UIC a 2-1 lead.

UIC doubled its lead eight minutes later after a Huskie turnover at midfield. Peter Becht put another ball past Dziedzic to give UIC a 3-1 lead, which would end as the final score.

Swan feels the goalkeeper spot is still a strong area for his team, despite allowing three goals

“We’ve been pleased with Konrad and his performances, but we are also confident in Drew [Donnally], he was playing well,” Swan said. “We have a week off now so we’ll reassess and regroup during training.”

The team will take the field again when it hosts the Valparaiso University Crusaders in their final match before conference play 7 p.m. Tuesday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.