Men’s soccer hosts Northwestern after three-game streak

Jorge Alvarez recorded his second career multi-goal game against Green Bay Sunday.

Cheer on men’s soccer as the Flames host Big Ten’s Northwestern at 7 p.m. tonight at Flames Field. Students are free with i-card.

The men’s soccer team (4-2-1, 1-0-0 Horizon League) is on a roll after winning its last three games.

On Sunday, the Flames beat Green Bay, 2-0, in the Horizon League opener at Flames Field. Jorge Alvarez recorded his second career multi-goal game as the team claimed its fourth shutout of the year.

Goalkeeper Andrew Putna hit a milestone with the 20th shutout of his career.

The Flames collected 18 shots and held the Phoenix to a mere three attempts, marking the second-consecutive game where the opponent has taken three shots or less. Nine players contributed to the shot total and seven had at least one attempt reach on goal.

Jorge Alvarez led all players with four shots on the day, followed by Marco Alvarez and Oscar Gonzalez with three each. The Alvarez twins each put two shots on goal, while shots by Gonzalez, Manny Chavez, Elias El Metennani, Thomas Villamil and Mike Jimenez were on target.

The Flames dominated the first half of play. Jorge Alvarez connected on a sequence of passes from Chavez to El Metennani to score the game-winning goal in the ninth minute. UIC continued its pressure the remainder of the half as the team attempted 10 more shots. Green Bay did not have a shot in the first 45 minutes of play.

In the seventh minute of the second half, the Alvarez brothers paired up for the second time this season as Marco dished a pass to Jorge, who finished by putting the ball over the top of the diving goalkeeper. With just six goals allowed on the season, Putna now owns a 0.83 goals-against-average.

The Flames head to Milwaukee Sunday for a 7 p.m. match.