The Milwaukee men's soccer team will embark on its 44th season of NCAA Division I soccer this week with a single game, heading to Illinois Sunday afternoon for a contest against Eastern Illinois.

The game will kickoff at 12 p.m. and live statistics will be provided. All links are available on the UWM website.

The Panthers and Panthers have played 11 times prior to the upcoming contest Sunday, with EIU holding a slim 6-5-0 edge. UWM certainly holds the upper hand of late, claiming victory in each of the past four outings, including a 2-0 win in the most recent contest in 2012. That game in 2012 was the first played between the two schools since 2001.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
EASTERN ILLINOIS: The Panthers, under second-year head coach Kiki Lara, look to improve on last season's 3-14-0 record. Lara is set to coach both the men's and women's teams at EIU this fall. The team went 2-0-1 in the 2016 exhibition season, defeating Saint Xavier (2-0) and Drake (4-2), while also playing Illinois-Springfield to a 0-0 draw.

Eastern Illinois heads into 2016 looking to make the Summit League postseason tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2011 and its first postseason appearance of any kind since 2008.

The squad returns 23 players from last season including All-Summit League Second-Team goalkeeper Mike Novotny (15 GP/75 saves/2.81 GAA). The Panthers also return all but one goal scorer from last season. EIU was picked to finish sixth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll, with Zach Medawattage selected to the "Players to Watch" list.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 21-17-5 all-time in season openers, including a 26-12-5 ledger in home openers after dominating Evansville, 5-2, a season ago. Head coach Kris Kelderman now has five season openers on his resume at the NCAA Division I collegiate level, going 4-1-0. In addition to the victories over the Purple Aces (2015), DePaul (2014) and a nationally-ranked Marquette squad (2013), his Green Bay squad topped SIU Edwardsville, 1-0, in 2011.

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played three exhibition contests this year, displaying impressive defense in not allowing a single goal to Dayton, Parkside and the Milwaukee Bavarians. The teams did not play overtime in the 0-0 draw against the Flyers, while the Bavarians did prevail, 4-2, in a penalty kick shootout following 110 minutes of scoreless action in the exhibition finale. The goalkeeper trio of Oliver Haslund (3 starts/0.00 GAA/141:57 of playing time/4 saves), Sam Glass (3 games/0.00 GAA/117:35/1 save) and Adin Chiappa (1 game/0.00 GAA/30:28/2 saves) was brilliant in goal. On offense, five different players netted goals, with Reid Stevenson leading the way with four points (1G/2A). Ten different players recorded goals or assists and Stevenson topped the list with seven shots.

DAZZLING OPENER IN 2015
There were many highlights for the Panthers from the season-opening 5-2 victory over Evansville a year ago. Among them:
-The most goals scored in a season opener since 1996 (a 5-0 win over Northwestern) and the second-most all time (seven is the record).
-No fewer than six freshmen (Josh Kaye, Matthias Binder, Sean Holmes, Francesco Saporito, Jason P. Svensson & Tinashe Marowa) started the contest, the most for a UWM team in at least the past 20 years. The former high-water mark was four freshmen, which has been done three times (2014, 2011, 2009).
-Senior Declan Rodriguez scored twice to become the first player to record a brace in a season opener since Edison Crespo had a pair vs. Marquette in the 2010 opener. The program record remains a hat trick (3) by Dan Day in 1984.
-The two newcomers to score (Binder/Saporito) became the sixth and seventh freshmen since 2000 to net a goal in the opener.

NOW THIS IS HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
When it comes to home field advantage, the Panthers have historically ranked right up there with the best in the business. From 2001 through 2006, UWM turned Engelmann Stadium into a place visiting teams did not want to see on their schedule, going 49-8-2 in that time. After a few down seasons by UWM standards, the magic is getting brought back - the Panthers have compiled a record of 19-9-5 at home in Kris Kelderman's four years as the head coach.

CLOSE DOES COUNT
Outside of lopsided victories to open and close the season (5-2 over Evansville and 4-0 over NKU), and a loss to the eventual No. 1 team in the land in Creighton, 13 of the other 15 games the Panthers played last season (including nine in a row at one point) were one-goal decisions or went into overtime. Milwaukee also played back-to-back double-OT contests against Oakland and UIC, something that had not happened since playing in three 2OT games in a row at the end of September in 2012. That year, UWM lost to Bowling Green (2-1) Sept. 25 before playing back-to-back double-overtime draws against Loyola (1-1) and Green Bay (2-2).

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE; PART II
There were plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2015, as 14 players out of the 33 on the roster made their UWM debuts last year, all as freshmen. Experienced was gained at a high level, with Francesco Saporito playing all 18 games and making 17 starts, earning Horizon League All-Freshmen Team accolades. In addition to Saporito, Matthias Binder made 16 starts and Sean Reynolds and Jason Palitang Svensson made 15. It was one of youngest rosters in the land (fourth-youngest technically), and Coach Kelderman will see the team have the same opportunities in 2016.

A peak at the roster sees 11 freshmen and 10 sophomores overall, giving the Panthers 21 underclassmen. The roster also includes no seniors, so 21 of the 26 student-athletes are in their first or second year of playing collegiate soccer.

LACK OF SENIORITIS
As stated the roster features no seniors this season. The five-member junior class will be looked at for leadership and guidance. The most experienced member of the group is Reid Stevenson, who tops the class in all categories heading into the 2016 season: games played (35), games started (20), points (13) and goals scored (5).

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
The Panthers found a way to earn the hard-fought 1-0 victory over Oakland Sept. 19 in the waning minutes, with Francesco Saporito putting home the golden goal on a beautiful 20-yard free kick just three-plus minutes from the end of the second overtime (goal came at 106:43).

That ended a streak of double-overtime jinxes at 12 games, as Milwaukee had been 0-1-10 in the previous 11 games it played into the second overtime period. The last 2OT win? Cody Banks' memorable goal to claim the Chancellors Cup on September 28, 2011 - giving UWM the 3-2 victory with the clock reading 109:53.

PART OF HISTORY
The Panthers and all of the fans jam-packed into Engelmann Stadium for the 'Milwaukee Cup' matchup against Marquette Sept. 3 of last season became part of history. The 4,030 in attendance not only blew away the old facility record of 3,312 (set in the 2013 'Milwaukee Cup'), but was also the largest crowd to ever watch a collegiate men's soccer game in the history of the state of Wisconsin. UWM now holds the top four spots on the list.

4,030 - Sept. 3, 2015 - Milwaukee 1, Marquette 1 (MKE CUP)
3,312 - Aug. 30, 2013 - Milwaukee 2, Marquette 1 (MKE CUP)
3,256 - Sept. 13, 2006 - Milwaukee 3, Marquette 2 (MKE CUP)
3,000 - Nov. 22, 1980 - Cleveland State 1, Milwaukee 0
2,470 - Oct. 13, 1995 - Wisconsin 2, Indiana 0
2,250 - Sept. 3, 1990 - Milwaukee 0, Evansville 0
2,145 - Oct. 15, 1993 - Indiana 5, Wisconsin 1
2,138 - Oct. 1, 2003 - Wisconsin 1, Milwaukee 0

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 21-8-2 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 2-1-1 in his three seasons, with the team knocking off Oakland in overtime, 1-0, a season ago.

THE BATTLE FOR THE MILWAUKEE CUP
Milwaukee and Marquette play for the "Milwaukee Cup" (this year on Sept. 14), one of the longest-standing rivalries in all of college soccer. In fact, in the summer of 2011, the College Soccer News website published a list of what they called "The Fourteen Greatest Rivalries in College Soccer." Weighing in at No. 10 on their list was the Milwaukee Cup.

The Panthers certainly have the upper hand all-time, now holding a 28-11-4 record in the series. They also posted back-to-back wins very recently, reclaiming the Cup in 2010 with a 4-2 victory and keeping possession in 2011 with a 2-1 final score.

The 2012 matchup will also go down in the memory books, as the Golden Eagles, trailing the Panthers 2-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the contest, pulled off a stunning finish to grab possession of the Cup. Following a goalkeeper miscue, Marquette found the equalizer at the 81:53 mark and then won the contest at the buzzer as the winning goal crossed the line at the 89:59 mark before the horn sounded. The 2013 edition was just as exciting, with the Panthers scoring just 60 seconds into the affair en route to a 2-1 victory over a Marquette squad that was ranked No. 12 at the time.

BRING ON THE CUP
Speaking of the "Milwaukee Cup", it is one of the three traveling trophies that the Panthers play for each and every season. In addition, Milwaukee takes on Green Bay for the "Chancellor's Cup" and also play Northern Illinois for the "LeWang Trophy". Back in 2011, UWM posted wins in all three games (2-1 over Marquette; 3-2 in double-overtime against Green Bay and 1-0 against NIU) to hold all three trophies for the first time since the start of the 2005 campaign. A year ago, the team lost to the Phoenix, and also defeated NIU, 2-1, to retain possession of the LeWang Cup.

CATCH THEM ANYWHERE
Milwaukee men's soccer will be readily available for the viewing pleasure of UWM fans this season, as all eight 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 men's game against Marquette Sept. 14 and Green Bay Oct. 22 are set to be televised locally by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

ON TAP
The Panthers will play just one game week two of the new campaign, heading to Missouri to take on UMKC next Saturday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.