The stretch of road games continues for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team, but there is a small break in the action as the only game of the week takes place Sunday. On that day, the Panthers head to DeKalb, Ill., to renew a rivalry with regional foe Northern Illinois University.

The contest will feature free video on NIU Tube as well as live statistics on GameTracker. Kick off is set for 2 p.m. All links are available on the Milwaukee Athletics website.

Milwaukee holds a commanding 5-1-0 record in the all-time series, but have not played the Huskies since 1998. In fact, all six games in the series took place on a yearly basis from 1993 to 1998. UWM won the last five, three via shutout, and outscored NIU by a total of 15-5 in that stretch.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies are coming off a 6-11-4 record in 2014, reaching the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time since 2007. They are led by head coach John Ross, who enters his fourth season this fall. The Huskies have opened the 2015 season at 1-3, dropping both games of a road trip to Nebraska last weekend (2-1 at Omaha/4-1 at Creighton) after a split opening weekend.

Senior Nicole Gobbo, the team's active leading goal scorer, has opened her final campaign with NIU in top form with two of the team's five goals. Amy Annala started 20 matches in goal last season (1.36 GAA) and has seen the majority of playing time so far this year, recording a 1.82 goals-against average.

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. She enters the week third in saves in the Horizon League despite the fact that the majority of the conference has played one more game.

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 game against Green Bay Sept. 30 is set to be televised locally by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

ON TAP
The Panthers continue to tackle regional opponents. Up next, the team welcomes Wisconsin to Engelmann Stadium, set for a 6 p.m. game Friday. Then, on Sunday, UWM heads to Illinois to take on Chicago State in a 2 p.m. matinee.