The Milwaukee men's soccer team opens Horizon League play this weekend, making the drive to Chicago to take on defending league-champion UIC Saturday night. The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. with live statistics available.

The Panthers and Flames have had some memorable meetings in the all-time series, including numerous matchups in the postseason. Milwaukee holds a slim 19-15-5 lead going into play Saturday, with UWM posting a 3-1-1 record the past five contests between the two (last season saw a well-played 1-1 draw). That turns the tide from an impressive run by the Flames, who won seven games in a row between 2006 and 2011.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are 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 prior four seasons, with the team knocking off Oakland in overtime, 1-0, a season ago.

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.

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

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.

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
One of the biggest games of the season awaits the Panthers, who head to Valley Fields for the annual "Milwaukee Cup" matchup with Marquette on Wednesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will include a Time Warner Cable SportsChannel broadcast.