The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team will host the 2015 Horizon League Tournament, beginning action in the event Thursday night when it welcomes Wright State.

Semifinal number one gets underway at 4:30 p.m. that day. The higher seeds held in the first-round games Monday, so the top four seeds from the regular-season standings will all converge on Engelmann Stadium, with the winner earning the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Oakland, as the No. 2 seed, also had a bye from Monday action and will be the home team in Thursday's opening affair against third-seeded Northern Kentucky. Wright State is the No. 4 seed and will play the Panthers in the late game. The winners advance to the Horizon League Tournament Championship Saturday at 6 p.m.

All games will have a live video feed on ESPN3 and will also have live statistics available. Head to the Milwaukee website for all links. See page nine of this release for full tournament bracket.

The Panthers hold all-time records of 22-9-5 against Wright State, 5-3-1 against Oakland and 0-0-1 with Northern Kentucky.
 
REGULAR SEASON REWIND
The Panthers went 2-0-1 against the rest of the championship field over the course of the 2015 regular season, defeating Oakland 2-1 in overtime, topping Wright State 1-0 and playing Northern Kentucky to a scoreless draw.

KIND OF A BIG DEAL
The Panthers have a history of success in the Horizon League Tournament and will be hosting the event for the eighth time in program history this week. They have posted an impressive 31-7-6 record all-time in the event, including 8-1-2 against possible opponents (7-1-2 vs. Wright State/1-0-0 vs. Oakland/0-0 vs. Northern Kentucky). A member of the Panther roster has been named league tournament MVP in six of the past seven years.

The team is in search of its 12th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, having last made it in the 2013 campaign (which also marked the end of a streak of six trips in a row).

OPPONENTS ARE OH-FOR-OCTOBER
Milwaukee played a dominant month of soccer in October. The team did not allow a goal in six games, posting a perfect 0.00 GAA in a 5-0-1 stretch. The Panthers outscored the opposition, 8-0.

ORDER IS RESTORED
The Panthers took care of business, earning a hard-fought 0-0 draw against then-second place Northern Kentucky Oct. 24 to claim the 2015 Horizon League regular-season title. After having its nation-best streak of 14 titles in a row snapped last season, Milwaukee is back on top under first-year head coach Troy Fabiano. Not bad for a team that was pegged eighth in the league preseason poll.

ANOTHER PAIGE FOR THE RESUME
The Horizon League honors continued to roll in for goalkeeper Paige Lincicum, who was named Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season Oct. 26. She went 1-0-1 for the week, recording her fifth and sixth shutouts of the season in contests against Valparaiso and Northern Kentucky. Her seventh shutout of the year against NKU Oct. 24 extended her scoreless streak to 615:10, currently good for the second-longest in program history.

1. 717:10, Erin Kane, 2005
2. 615:10, Lincicum, 2015, current
3. 595:22, Erin Kane, 2006

ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET
The awards keep rolling in for the team, as juniors Callie O'Donnell and Paige Lincicum were honored as Horizon League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week Oct. 12 for their role in the team's 1-0 victory over previously league-unbeaten Cleveland State on the road. O'Donnell netted the game's only goal and Lincicum made a pair of second-half saves to extend her scoreless streak to 235:10 (at the time) with her third complete shutout of the season.

SMALLEY HITS THE BIG TIME
Sophomore Anna Smalley was named Horizon League Player of the Week Oct. 5 after netting three goals - and two game-winners - in Milwaukee's 2-0 week, marking the first league honor of her career.

Smalley has been quite a presence on offense, firing off 29 shots to easily eclipse her total from her freshman campaign (13 in 18 contests on the year). In addition to being in the top 10 in the nation with her six game-winning goals overall, four of them have been crucial. Four of her eight total goals have come in games in which Milwaukee claimed victories by final scores of 1-0. Smalley enters play this week alone in first place in the Horizon League in goals scored.

JUST 12 MONTHS LATER
What a difference a year has made for the Panthers before the month of September was even over. At seven wins before October, the team had already claimed more victories than all of last season (6-10-2). In addition, after just a dozen games, it netted more goals (27 this season compared to 25 all of last season) and more total points (82 compared to 79). Four players [juniors Callie O'Donnell (15) and Maria Stephans (12)/sophomores Anna Smalley (13) and Sydney Senn (11)] already had double-digit point totals.

OOPS, SHE DID IT AGAIN
Junior goalkeeper Paige Lincicum has been part of the strong start for Milwaukee this season and was honored Sept. 28 with Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in three weeks (and third time in her career). She made nine total saves in an unbeaten week (1-0-1), helping UWM to a well-deserved draw with Marquette midweek before posting a four-save shutout on the road at Wright State on the weekend.

"O'DONNELL RULES!"
Junior Callie O'Donnell is enjoying a breakout junior campaign, heading into play this week with a second-place total of seven goals in the league. She has already eclipsed her career totals across the board coming into the 2015 season and continues to find the back of the net when given the chance - her shot percentage of .350 and leads the team (for players who have recorded 5-plus shot attempts).

EVENS STEPHANS
Junior Maria Stephans was named Horizon League Player of the Week Sept. 22. She netted a pair of goals to help UWM grab an important comeback win over Oakland in the Horizon League opener, bagging a PK at the end of regulation and the winner in overtime.

The Panthers seem to have the Golden Grizzlies number late, as the last time Milwaukee overcame a late one-goal deficit in any game was also against Oakland over a year ago. In the league tournament championship in 2013, the Panthers trailed until the 86:25 mark but claimed a one-goal win in the 90th.

MORE QUICK PROGRESS
It took just seven games under his belt for head coach Troy Fabiano to help his team accomplish something in 2015 that they did not reach a season ago - the team went four games (3-0-1 against NIU, Wisconsin, Chicago State, Oakland) without a defeat for the first time since winning five contests in a row at the end of the 2013 campaign.

NEARLY A PERFECT 10
The offense was out in full force against Chicago State Sept. 13, nearly reaching double-figures in goals over the course of a 9-0 victory. The goal total marked the highest for the Panthers since the team set the school record with 16 against Western Illinois back in September of 1997. The second-half featured an eye-popping outburst of eight in the back of the net - also the most since the 11 after intermission back in that 1997 contest. The 41 shots also marked the most for the Panthers since piling up 42 against Cleveland State back on October 19, 2007.

PLAYING BIG IN THE BACK
The offense may have been on display in a big win, but it was the play of junior Paige Lincicum that gave Milwaukee an unbeaten 1-0-1 week and earned her Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors Sept. 14. She was also honored at a higher level when she was named to the College Soccer 360 National Primetime Performers Honor Roll for Week 4 of the season. Lincicum posted a 0.50 goals-against average over the course of a 1-1 draw against regionally-ranked Wisconsin and a victory over Chicago State in which she played 70-plus scoreless minutes.

ONWUEMEKA ON THE MARK
Freshman Lourdes Onwuemeka was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over Northern Illinois Sept. 6. She is the first Panther to earn league player of the week this season and the first UWM freshman to be honored since Paige Lincicum at the end of the 2013 season. Onwuemeka led Milwaukee to the comeback victory over Northern Illinois Sept. 6 by scoring the equalizer and assisting the game-winner.
 
In the 53rd minute, she was in the right place at the right time, sending home a ball that was partially saved after senior Kelsey Holbert's attempt from distance was pushed off the cross bar. Then, in the 80th minute, she headed a free kick to freshman Kelli Swenson who headed in the game-winning goal.

LINCICUM LEADS THE CHARGE
Junior Paige Lincicum set a career-high with 10 saves against Illinois State Aug. 28 - several of the eye-opening highlight variety - and followed that up with seven more saves in a tough 1-0 loss at Butler two days later. The only goal of that game came on an early Bulldogs' penalty kick.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers embarked on their 26th season of NCAA Division I women's soccer (and 32nd overall) with a 1-0 win over Western Illinois Aug. 21. They now sport an all-time record of 9-15-2 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level and a tally of 13-11-2 in home openers. The team had been a bit jinxed of late in openers, last winning in 2011 and having gone 0-2-1 the prior three seasons in the first matchup of a new campaign.

LEATHERNECK WHITEWASH
The Panthers posted a 1-0 victory over Western Illinois Aug. 21, claiming a victory in the season opener for the first time since 2011. The last shutout in an opener actually came in 2012 (0-0 draw with #24 South Carolina), but the last clean sheet that came in a victory occurred in 2008 (3-0 over Wisconsin).

FIREPOWER
The Panthers opened the 2015 season with an impressive shot total, registering 18 against Western Illinois. That marks the most since accumulating 21 in a 4-1 win against UIC last Sept. 24. That contest against the Flames was the only one of the season where UWM recorded 20-plus shot attempts.

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE
There will be plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2015, as 13 players out of the 33 on the roster will be making their UWM debuts this year, including a crew of 12 freshmen. The senior class is just two deep, with Kelsey Holbert (62 career games/60 career starts) and Sky Perna (25G/2GS) topping the experience chart.

The junior class is deep, but is also not very experienced. Outside of the trio of Maria Stephans, Paige Lincicum and Rachael Van Keulen - which each started all 18 games in 2014 - the 10 juniors account for 19 career starts headed into the 2015 campaign.

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played a pair of exhibition contests this year, coming up with completely different results. Just a few days into a return to training, the team dropped a 4-0 decision to Purdue. However, the squad did not give up a goal over the final 60-plus minutes. Then, in its second exhibition, the Panthers dominated the contest in posting a 3-0 victory over Indiana State. Junior Callie O'Donnell scored one goal and assisted another to lead the offense. In goal, junior newcomer Mallory Geurts posted 90 scoreless minutes over the two games.

THIS GUY IS FAB-ULOUS
Troy Fabiano was named the eighth head coach in program history during the offseason and brings with him a very impressive resume. In his 17 years at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Fabiano went 222-74-29, a winning percentage of over 75 percent. Fabiano guided Parkside to 16 consecutive winning seasons, eight NCAA Tournament appearances and five Great Lakes Valley Conference championships. He earned three GLVC Coach of the Year awards, and was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2008, 2010 and 2014. In his last season of 2014, the squad went 18-1-3 and earned a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual national champion in overtime.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
As stated, the team will be very young in 2015. After an injury in 2014, Kelsey Holbert hopes to return to the field for her senior season this fall. The list of seniors is small – again, just Holbert and Sky Perna – so the youth of the squad will be on display quickly, for better or worse.
 
Holbert's experience will be heavily leaned on when she returns, as she has tallied 39 points in her career (12G/15A), starting 60 times in 62 appearances. Or, from a scoring perspective, more goals and total points than the rest of the returning roster combined (9G/17A=35 points).

POSTSEASON HARDWARE
The team had five players earn all-conference honors in 2014, with a pair of seniors moving on with first-team accolades in Krissy Dorre and Morgan LaPlant. That means three of the five are back on the field in 2015. Maria Stephans was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team, while Cassidy Blanchard and Anna Smalley were named to the all-freshman team.

Stephans wrapped up the year with one goal – the game winner against Illinois State – and four assists from a defensive midfielder role. She was one of just three field players to start every game for Milwaukee and played 1597 minutes on the year – third most on the team.
 
Blanchard played an important role for the Panthers, starting every game as a freshman at center back. The Whitefish Bay, Wis., native played all but 36 minutes on the year, tallying 1634 minutes of action as a true freshman. Not only was she solid defensively, but she also contributed to the Panther attack with one goal and one assist.
 
Smalley also played in all 18 games as a true freshman, earning a starting role in 14 games. Playing in an attacking midfield role, Smalley registered two assists on the season – including helping set up the game winner against College of Charleston – in 945 minutes of action on the year.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
The squad lost a very talented senior class of seven players and six regular starters overall. What that means is that there will be plenty of opportunity for a new group of players to shine. The offense will essentially have to be replaced. The Panthers have none of their top three point scorers from 2014 returning. A closer look sees just two of the top seven point-scorers back in Black & Gold this fall. If you look over the list, the team returns 23 of 79 points overall and players that accounted for just six of the 25 goals UWM netted in 2014.

PRESEASON CHATTER
The Panthers are targeted as the second place team in the Horizon League according to the HeroSports.com website, with defending champ Valparaiso picked to repeat. The website tabs junior Maria Stephans as "The Cornerstone" and hails sophomore Sydney Senn and Cassidy Blanchard as "The Supporting Cast".

GIMME FIVE
After not scoring five goals in a game in 2013, the Panthers did the trick last year in a thrilling 5-4 win over Marquette Sept. 11. The last time UWM hit the back of the net that many times was a 5-0 victory over Cleveland State Oct. 26, 2012.

CATCH THEM ANYWHERE
Milwaukee women's soccer will be readily available for the viewing pleasure of UWM fans this season, as nine home games will be streamed live on ESPN3. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN3 platform. ESPN3 is available to nearly 116.3 million homes. In addition, the women's games against Marquette Sept. 23 (tape-delay) and Green Bay Sept. 30 (live) are set to be televised locally by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

ON TAP
If the team claims the Horizon League Tournament title, it will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history. First-round action would take place November 13-15.