Leading the UIC attack was senior Peter Kelley, who scored two goals, including a six-yard chip shot from his knees past Marquette goalie Adam Ubert in the 51st minute. Both goals were set up on assists from sophomore midfielder Roberto Gallo.

Kelley’s two goals book-ended the first collegiate goal for Flames freshman midfielder/forward Eric Cervantes, who entered the game as a substitute.

In their last two games, the Golden Eagles have yielded 10 goals to their opponents while scoring none.

“We gave up soft goals (Wednesday),” coach Steve Adlard said. “It’s a question of experience right now. There’s just too much inexperience out there on the field right now.

“We as coaches have to work hard to eliminate the basic mistakes.”

Though the team’s defensive woes have been highlighted thus far this season, Adlard pointed out evidence that his team hasn’t been playing all that poorly. He said two Marquette shots hit the crossbar, and two more were cleared away by defenders coming to the aid of the Flames’ beaten goalkeeper at the goal line.

Marquette managed to outshoot the Flames, 16-10, putting eight shots on goal compared to the Flames’ seven. The Golden Eagles also had more corner kick opportunities, leading the Flames eight to five in that category.

Sophomore midfielder Blair Kohlmeyer, who has tallied both of Marquette’s goals this season, said he doesn’t think the team is far from correcting its problems on the offensive and defensive end.

“For the most part, we’ve just got to play more team defense and work the ball around a little better, starting from the offense back to the defense,” he said. “I thought we controlled the game pretty much, we just didn’t put the ball into the net. (Goal chances) were definitely there and we just need to start finishing them.”

“If we can eliminate the inexperience that’s creating these mistakes, then we’d have the opportunity to cash in and score some goals,” Adlard said.

Adding to the team’s difficulties, Adlard said that two players were injured during the game and were unable to return for the second half. Junior midfielder Danny Mullin will not play in the Golden Eagles next game against Oakland (Rochester, Mich.) due to a knee injury. Senior defender/midfielder Andy Wagner suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely.

Adlard said the team did show improvement despite the loss.

“The second half was quite solid today,” he said. “And I do feel that Kohlmeyer played well and (freshman defender/midfielder Nathan) Sabich played well, so that’s a start.

“We’re a new team learning our trade. We’ve just got to be patient and work hard at it until we learn how to solve the problems. It’s going to take time.”

UIC’s sophomore goalie Ross Cain recorded seven saves on the way to his seventh career shutout for the Flames.

Chris Lee, who was suspended from Wednesday’s game after picking up a red card in the loss to Air Force, will return to the pitch this weekend against the Grizzlies (1-0-1).