Up next, the Milwaukee men's soccer team heads across town for one of the biggest games on its schedule. The Panthers will make the short trip to Valley Fields Wednesday to take on Marquette in the annual matchup for the "Milwaukee Cup". Game time for the event, which will be aired live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel with Matt Menzl and Matt Schroeder on the call, is set for 7 p.m.

In addition, the Panthers will also travel to Highland Heights, Ky., Saturday to take on Northern Kentucky University. Both matchups on the schedule this week will feature live stats, while the game against the Norse, set to start at 6 p.m. CST, will also have a live ESPN3 broadcast. Milwaukee and NKU have played just twice all-time, with UWM sweeping both games. Last year's decision was a 4-0 win, while the only other contest in 2012 was a closer 2-1 victory.

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 after the two teams played to an entertaining 1-1 draw in front of a record crowd a season ago. They have 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 remains one for 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.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles are off to an impressive start to the 2016 season, highlighted by high-scoring freshman Luka Prpa. So far, Marquette is 3-1-1, going unbeaten in four games since opening the campaign with a 4-0 loss against Kentucky. The team scored four goals in each game of a three-game win streak as well, outscoring its opponents by a total of 13-to-6 on the season. Prpa is among the nation's leaders with 15 points, notching five goals and five assists. His consecutive six-point efforts (2G/2A each game) against NIU and UIC were a first by an MU player in program history. They start the week ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional poll.

The 2016 Marquette squad is one of the youngest teams in Big East Conference and is coming off a 5-10-2 campaign. It features the second-youngest overall roster in the league with 12 freshmen and 10 sophomores, ranking only behind St. John's (16 FR/10 SO). They are coached by Louis Bennett, the also owns the most wins in program history for the Panthers (136), who he coached from 1996-2005.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY: The Norse are coming off an 8-7-4 campaign in 2015, placing third in the Horizon League with a 4-2-3 record. NKU returns leading scorer Kobie Qualah who posted 12 points and six goals last season to rank among the league's top five goal scorers. The Norse will look to their 12 newcomers to make an immediate impact.

So far in 2016, the squad has gone 0-4-1, dropping its conference opener in the last outing (3-2 loss in double-OT against Oakland).

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

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.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 21-9-2 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 2-2-1 in his prior five seasons, with the team knocking off Oakland in overtime, 1-0, a season ago. The Panthers fell to UIC, 1-0, in this year's opener.

FALL WELCOME
The fans came out in abundance for the home opener against Drake Sept. 6, watching the Panthers overcome an early deficit to take the lead before a late goal helped the Bulldogs escape. The 1,978 in attendance marked the 10th-largest crowd in Engelmann Stadium history.

BACK IN THE GOOD GRACES
Milwaukee has already made an appearance in the National Soccer Coaches Association regional rankings this season, coming in at No. 10 in the Great Lakes Regional Aug. 30. The Panthers last appearance in the regional rankings came over the first month of the 2014 season after spending nearly all of the 2013 campaign in the Great Lakes Regional poll (and in the NSCAA national rankings as well).

A PAIR IN THE OPENER
Kostas Kotselas picked a fine time for his first multi-goal outing as a Panther, leading Milwaukee to a season-opening 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois. Two goals in a season opener would seem to sound rare, but this marks the second year in a row that a UWM player has accomplished the feat. Declan Rodriguez netted a brace in the opener against Evansville a year ago and Edison Crespo had a pair vs. Marquette in the 2010 opener. The program record for the season opener remains a hat trick (3) by Dan Day in 1984.

GETTING THAT DEBUT 'W'
Newcomer Oliver Haslund made a trio of saves in the 2-1 season-opening victory over Eastern Illinois Aug. 28, including a tremendous first-half stop that kept the game 0-0 at the time. The only goal he allowed came on an EIU penalty kick. He became just the third freshman in the last 15 years to start a season opener, and the second to record a victory. Liam Anderson was in goal for UWM's 2-1 upset of nationally-ranked Marquette in the 2013 opener, while John Shakon was on the wrong end of a tough 1-0 loss to the Golden Eagles in the 2009 opener, with the only score coming on an 85th-minute strike.

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.

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.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 22-17-5 all-time in season openers following a 2-1 victory over Eastern Illinois Aug. 28. Head coach Kris Kelderman now has six season openers on his resume at the NCAA Division I collegiate level, going 5-1-0. In addition to the victory over EIU, he has wins over Evansville (2015), DePaul (2014) and a nationally-ranked Marquette squad (2013); while his Green Bay squad topped SIU Edwardsville, 1-0, in 2011.

DAZZLING DEBUT 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.

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 open a four-game homestand with the second cup game of the season, hosting Northern Illinois Wednesday. The LeWang Trophy will be on the line against the Huskies, kicking off at 7 p.m. that evening.