The Milwaukee women's soccer team closes out the home portion of the 2017 schedule with a pair of games, hosting first-place IUPUI Wednesday before wrapping things up at Engelmann Stadium with "Senior Day" against Youngstown State Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers - one of just two remaining unbeaten programs at the NCAA Division I level - have a big week ahead of them. IUPUI will bring a first-place mark of 6-0 in league play to Milwaukee, with the game set to get underway at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Saturday's affair with the Penguins will get started at 12 p.m. with "Senior Day" festivities taking place pregame.

Both games will have live statistics and ESPN3 live feeds for all fans to follow along with the action. Matt Menzl will have the call each contest and all links are posted to the UWM website.

The Panthers and IUPUI have never met in a women's soccer game prior to this week. On the other side of things, Milwaukee has gone an impressive 14-2-0 all-time against YSU, outscoring them 52-to-10 in the series that dates back to 2001. The Panthers earned wins in the first 11 games between the programs and have recorded 4-0 victories each of the past two seasons.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
IUPUI: The Jaguars, newcomers to the Horizon League this season, have certainly put their best foot forward and start the week in first place in the standings at 6-0. That is part of a 13-3-0 overall record, which includes 12 consecutive victories since a 3-2 loss way back on August 27 against Eastern Kentucky. Krissy Kirkhoff leads the team with 20 points (5G and a league-high 10 assists), while Valentine Pursey (19 points/8G/3A) and Hayley Shelton (15/4G/7A) join her in double-figures scoring totals. Sophia Lipka has played 14 of the 16 games in net, posting nine shutouts, an .873 save percentage and a 0.63 GAA.

Chris Johnson is in his 15th season with the IUPUI women's soccer program in 2017 and his 24th year as a collegiate head coach. Johnson ranks as the program's all-time wins (94) leader since taking over the IUPUI program in 2003. His 2016 team returned the program to winning ways, going 9-7-3 behind an offense that powered in 32 goals.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Penguins have struggled recently and are still in the midst of a 10-match streak (0-9-1) in which they have not posted a win. The team is 4-10-1 overall, but 0-6 in league play, having been outscored 22-4 in Horizon League action. Kyler Lum paces the offense with 13 points (6G/1A), while Kylee Moffett has seen the large majority of time in net, posting a 1.72 GAA and a 4-8-1 record, with four shutouts to her credit.

THANKS SENIORS!
A key part of this year's success, the Panthers say thank you and offer best wishes to a senior class of nine members: #3 Anna Smalley, #8 Maddie Tetzke, #10 Sydney Senn, #11 Aubrey Krahn, #12 Kiley Kreple, #14 Jen Eberhardy, #23 Anny West, #27 Cassidy Blanchard and #30 Mallory Geurts.

QUICK STANDINGS PEAK
As the Horizon League schedule comes down the stretch, three teams remain unbeaten. League newcomer IUPUI starts the week at the top with an unblemished 6-0 mark. Northern Kentucky sits second at 5-0-1 with the Panthers giving the conference three unbeaten teams remaining, sitting third at 4-0-2.

MAKING MORE HISTORY
At 15 games, the current unbeaten streak has now broken the overall school record of 13, a mark set on three different occasions. Most recently it was the end of the 2015 season (7-0-3 to end the campaign, including a season-ending 1-1 draw against Wright State in the league semifinals), stretching into 2016 (another 2-0-1 for a 9-0-4 overall mark in the span). Those three marks included:
1. 12-0-3 (2017)
2. 9-0-4 (end of 2015/start of 2016)
3. 12-0-1 (2006)
4. 10-0-3 (2005)

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO
Milwaukee starts the week as one of just two unbeaten teams remaining at the NCAA Division I level. The Panthers (11-0-3) join UCLA (12-0-2) on that very short list.

The Panthers have been impressive, nearly not trailing yet this season in 1,410 complete minutes of action. They have been tied at 0-0 for a cumulative total of 624:44. UIC became the first opponent to draw even with the Panthers outside of a scoreless contest, with the Flames even at 1-1 for 29:08. Wright State then became the first team to be ahead of Milwaukee on the scoreboard and it came in game No. 13. The 1-0 deficit lasted all of 50 seconds that day as well before it was tied again. The 1-1 draw with NKU has pushed the total time tied at 1-1 on the season to 139:49 and time trailing to just 13:12.

LOCAL CELEBS
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profiled the unbeaten Panthers in a feature story this week (Oct. 17), with writer Gary D'Amato covering the season to date. D'Amato interviewed Coach Fabiano and seniors Anna Smalley and Mallory Geurts for the piece, which can be found here:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uwm/2017/10/17/uwms-womens-soccer-team-one-two-unbeaten-teams-nation/770055001/

AN OPENING STATEMENT
The Panthers drew even with the school record by opening the season with four consecutive shutouts and extended that mark to nine in a row before coming to an end. The prior record of "just" four was accomplished by the 2009 team. That year, with Jamie Forbes in goal, Milwaukee opened the season with 0-0 draws against Northwestern and Wisconsin, before topping Michigan, 6-0, and Rice by a score of 1-0. No other team in program history started with even as many as three clean sheets in a row.

Unbeaten through 15 games (12-0-3) marks the best start to a new schedule for a UWM team in program history. That eclipsed the 7-0-2 opening to the 1997 season and the 6-0-1 start of the 2008 team.

RANKINGS RISE
With each passing week, the Panthers continue to make noise in the regional - and national - polls as well. The team started the season ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes Regional Poll. They have since moved to No. 12, No. 9, again at No. 9 (Week 4), then up to No. 6 (Week 5), then again holding steady there in Week 6. National votes for the Top 25 started to appear Week 4 (2), bumping up again in Week 5 (5) and again in Week 6 (11). Week 7 saw the Panthers at No. 9 in the region and with five votes in the national poll, while Week 8 sees a regional rise to No. 8 in addition to four national poll votes. Week 9 sees another rise, landing at No. 7 in the region to go along with 10 national votes.

POINTS PARADE
Milwaukee starts the week leading the Horizon League as a team in shots (264), points (109), goals (33), assists (43) and goals-against average (0.26). On an individual basis, not only do the Panthers feature two of the tops five scorers in the league, but rank pretty high nationally as well.

Anna Smalley leads the team, second in the conference in points (21) and goals (8), a point total that currently ranks 54th in the country. Aubrey Krahn (18 points/fifth), Lourdes Onwuemeka (13 points) and Mackenzie Schill (13 points) give the offense a potent punch. Onwuemeka and Jen Eberhardy are also second in the Horizon League in assists with seven, a number that currently stands 21st in the nation.

Also, with Smalley (21), Krahn (18), Onwuemeka (13), Schill (13) and McKaela Schmelzer (11), the Panthers currently have five players who have scored 10-or-more points. A year ago, the team also had five, which marked the most since having that many in 2011. The last team with more? The 2008 squad that had eight players reach double-figures in the scoring column.

RANKING RUNDOWN
Milwaukee topped Marquette, 2-1, September 17 to claim a win over a nationally-ranked opponent. The Golden Eagles came in at No. 19 and with an eight-game unbeaten streak of their own before UWM claimed the big victory. That marked the first defeat of a ranked opponent since knocking off then-No. 16 Missouri, 1-0, back on September 17, 2006 – 11 years to the date (UWM had been 0-15-3 since and is now 3-33-6 all-time).

THAT'S A BIG ZERO
The Panthers defense had not been scored on in the first nine-plus games this season, the second-to-last team to allow a goal in the NCAA (only Rutgers went longer). Goalkeeper Mallory Geurts set a new record for most scoreless minutes to begin a new campaign and overall as well. She made it to 917:27 - the ninth-longest streak in NCAA history - with her 11 solo shutouts second in the nation and her current miniscule 0.255 GAA fourth overall.

Milwaukee also comes into play this week second in the country with its 0.255 goals-against average (4 goals allowed all season). For comparison, the next best school in the Horizon League (IUPUI), has allowed an average of 0.80 goals per game (13 total) this fall.

BLANKING THEM ALL
For Mallory Geurts, posting shutouts is starting to become routine. She already broke Jamie Forbes mark for longest scoreless streak to begin a season - Forbes made it to 411:06 back in 2009 before allowing a goal in game No. 5 to Marquette. In doing so, Geurts picked up Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors - the first Panther to ever earn back-to-back defensive accolades.

The longest overall shutout streak by a goalkeeper came next. The record for UWM was 717:10 by Erin Kane back in 2005. Geurts eclipsed that mark against Southern Utah Sept. 10. When her streak finally came to an end in the win over No. 19 Marquette, the tally earned her the ninth-longest scoreless streak in women's soccer history at the NCAA Division I level.

Longest Shutout Streak By A Goalkeeper
1.     917:27      2016-17      Mallory Geurts
2.    717:10      2005      Erin Kane
3.    697:53      2015      Paige Lincicum
4.    595:22      2006      Erin Kane
5.     590:52      2006      Erin Kane

EVEN BIGGER LIST
As mentioned, Geurts streak goes into the NCAA record book as the ninth-longest ever.

1,669:25 ... Anne Sherow, North Carolina (Sept. 5, 1987-Sept. 3, 1988)
1,268:29 ... Crystal Gordon, Santa Clara (Sept. 19, 1998-Dec. 4, 1998)
1,134:36 ... Shay Mannino, Central Mich. (Sept. 11, 2009-Oct. 29, 2009)
1,114:00 ... Jenni Branam, North Carolina (Oct. 8, 1999-Dec. 5, 1999)
1,084:10 ... Melissa Sanger, La Salle (Aug. 19, 2011-Oct. 7, 2011)
1,003:58 ... Tiffany DeCoff, Holy Cross (Sept. 25, 1999-Nov. 10, 1999)
969:43 ... Katelyn Rowland, UCLA (Oct. 9, 2014-Nov. 28, 2014)
966:36 ... Erika Bohn, Notre Dame (Sept. 28, 2003-Oct. 29, 2003)
MALLORY GEURTS ... 917:27

MORE CLEAN SHEET INFO
The season record for shutouts stands at 13, a mark that Erin Kane established in 2005 and tied again in 2006. Mallory Geurts is now checking in at a tie for third on that list.
1. Kane, 13 (2005 and 2006)
T3. Geurts, 11 this season
T3. Jamie Forbes, 11 (2011)
5. Erin Kane, 10 (2007)

BIG STUFF FOR SMALLEY
Anna Smalley has turned up her offensive game of late, netting the winner against UIC in addition to back-to-back game-winners against Indiana State and Northern Illinois, giving her a league-best four winners on the season. She now has 13 in her illustrious career, trailing only Sarah Hagen on the all-time list. Most of Smalley's have been key - prior to this season, six of the nine she tallied during the 2016 and 2015 campaigns came in games that Milwaukee won by a final score of 1-0.

*Career Game-Winners*
1. Sarah Hagen (2008-11): 27
2. Anna Smalley (2014-17): 13
3. Three players tied: 11

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers opened the season on the road, and now carry an all-time record of 10-15-3 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level and a tally of 7-11-2 in road openers following the scoreless draw against Akron. The team has now gone 2-2-2 in season openers the past six years, with a 1-0 victory over Western Illinois in Troy Fabiano's debut in 2015 snapping a three-game stretch without a victory. UWM had not tied in a season opener since a 0-0 OT2 decision against No. 24 South Carolina to open the 2012 campaign.

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
The Panthers blanked the Zips to open 2017, marking the third season in a row the defense held its opponent from hitting the back of the net. The team posted a shutout in the 2016 season opener, a 1-0 win over Akron in newcomer Mallory Geurts' UWM debut in net. In addition to being what was then the second consecutive season that Milwaukee opened with a shutout win, it also marked the first clean sheet for a goalie making her UWM debut since Jamie Forbes in 2009 (0-0 draw at Northwestern).

MORE HONORS
Aubrey Krahn and Mallory Geurts were named Horizon League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 18 - giving UWM its sixth and seventh honors of the season. Krahn came through with a pair of goals as the Panthers defeated No. 19 Marquette, 2-1, Sunday night to improve to 9-0-1 on the season. The 10-game unbeaten start to the season marks a school record. The goals were her fourth and fifth of the campaign and the win was UWM's first over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2006. Geurts posted her ninth shutout of the year Friday against Detroit Mercy.

Anna Smalley repeated as Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 12. Smalley picked up right where she left off, netting both goals in Milwaukee's 2-0 win at Northern Illinois to give her game-winning goals in back-to-back contests. She followed that up with a goal in UWM's 6-0 victory over Southern Utah Sunday.

A week earlier, Smalley helped UWM cap a 2-0 weekend at home for the Panthers with a brilliant individual effort Sept. 3. After being held without a point Friday, Smalley netted the first goal of the day against Indiana State in the eighth minute before adding assists on the next two goals in a 3-0 victory. The honor is the second of Smalley's career and already the fourth the Panthers have claimed this fall.

Lourdes Onwuemeka picked up Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors Aug. 28 after playing a key role in UWM's 2-0 weekend. She scored the only goal in UWM's 1-0 win over Southeast Missouri Friday and followed that up with the assist on the game-winner in Sunday's 2-0 win at Eastern Illinois. She finished the two games with five shots, all on goal. The league honor is the second of her UWM career.

ROAD TRIPPIN'
The Panthers opened the 2017 campaign in near-unprecedented style. The team played its first four games away from Engelmann Stadium (six counting the pair of exhibition contests) - the second-longest stretch to open a season in program history. The longest was a five-game swing away from Milwaukee in 1996, while a four-game stretch on the road also occurred in 2010 and 2014. The Panthers traveled (counting the exhibition season) over 4,000 miles and into four different states before playing on their home turf this season.

SETTING THE BAR
Not only has Troy Fabiano picked up a pair of Horizon League Coach of the Year honors in his two season at the helm, but his 24 victories set a new standard for the most wins over the first two years of any coach in program history. The two-dozen wins eclipses the 23 recorded by Michael Moynihan over the course of his first two seasons (13 in 1997 and 10 more in 1998).

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played a pair of exhibition contests this year, posting a 1-1-0 record. Just a few days into a return to training, the team claimed a 2-0 victory over Loyola, with Lourdes Onwuemeka netting a goal just 4:35 into the action and getting that backed up by a goal from Maddie Tetzke before intermission. Then, in their second exhibition, the Panthers dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Illinois State. Mackenzie Schill netted a late goal, but the 2-0 deficit was too much to overcome against the MVC champs. In goal, Mallory Geurts allowed one goal and made one save in 45 minutes of playing time, while Olivia Davies allowed a goal and made three saves in 135 minutes of game time to post a 0.67 goals-against average. Tetzke recorded a team-best three shots to lead the offense in the two games.

PRESEASON POLL
A year after repeating as Horizon League champions and claiming its 16th regular-season title in the past 17 years, the Milwaukee women's soccer team has been picked by league coaches to again take first in the upcoming Horizon League regular season, according to the results of the preseason poll.

The Panthers tallied five first-place votes and 86 points in the coaches' poll to claim the No. 1 spot. They were tied with Northern Kentucky, who also garnered the same 86 points and five first-place votes. Detroit Mercy (73) was next in line in third place, with Oakland (66) just behind the Titans in fourth. Wright State (59) was next and UIC (53) closed out that grouping in sixth place.
 
Milwaukee was picked to finish second in the preseason poll a year ago before going on to claim the crown once again. The team went 13-5-2 overall, topping the league at 8-1-0.
 
1.  Milwaukee (5)   86
2.  Northern Kentucky (5) 86
3.  Detroit Mercy 73
4.  Oakland 66
5.  Wright State 59
6.  UIC 53
7.  IUPUI  42
8. Youngstown State 34
9. Cleveland State 32
10. Green Bay 18

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE
There will once again be plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2017. A season ago, 14 of the 34 players on the roster were making their UWM debuts. This year, 11 of the 30 student-athletes will be appearing in a Panther uniform for the first time (nine true freshmen and a pair of redshirt freshmen). Newcomers earned 21 total starts last campaign, with McKaela Schmelzer accounting for nearly all (20) of them on her way to earning Horizon League Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors.

Schmelzer became the 13th freshman to start every team game for the Panthers in her first season, and the first since Emily Scott did so in 2011 (22 games). Sarah Hagen (23 games in 2008) was the last to do it before Scott.

NOTHING SMALL ABOUT IT
Anna Smalley earned Second-Team National Soccer Coaches Association All-Region and First-Team Horizon League All-Conference honors a year ago, scoring a team-high 26 points. She tallied a league-best 11 goals to go along with four assists, netting three game-winners. Her 26 points finished just one off the Horizon League lead and marked the most for a Panther since Krissy Dorre had 27 in 2013.

LET'S GET CRACKING
The offense should be in good shape, with Milwaukee set to return nine of the top 11 point scorers from a year ago, led by Anna Smalley. Aubrey Krahn (13 points on 4G/5A) and Jen Eberhardy (10 points on 2G/6A) make it a trio of returners to record double-figures in points.

On defense, Mallory Geurts paced the Horizon League with her 0.75 goals-against average. She will have a veteran presence in front of her, with Cassidy Blanchard - the 2015 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year - and McKaela Schmelzer both regular starters a season ago. Erin Corrigan will also rejoin the backline a year after missing the season to injury.

GOOD UP AND DOWN
One look at the team statistics following the conclusion of the 2016 campaign sees Milwaukee at the top of nearly every category across the Horizon League, whether you are looking at offensive or defensive statistics - most by overwhelming margins.

The potent UWM offense led the conference in points with 153 (second was 106), goals with 48 (second was 34), assists with 57 (second was 38) and shots with 17.5 per contest (13.3 was runner-up). Defensively, it was Milwaukee again leading the way in goals-against average at 0.72 (second was 1.08), fewest goals allowed at 15 (23) and shutouts at nine (8).

WELL-REPRESENTED
The Panthers had five different players earn postseason honors last year, highlighted by a trio of first-team all-league honorees and two specialty award winners - McKaela Schmelzer was selected the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and Troy Fabiano repeated as the Horizon League Coach of the Year.

The three first-team selections included Maria Stephans (a repeat selection from 2015 and a second-team honoree in 2014), as well as Anna Smalley and Callie O'Donnell (both were second-team members a year ago). Rounding out the list was Cassidy Blanchard on the second team, a year removed from first-team honors. Schmelzer rounded out the list with All-Freshman honors.

GEURTS GOOD AT ANY LEVEL
Mallory Geurts came to Milwaukee from Parkside, following a sophomore season in which she led the nation with a 0.27 goals-against average at the NCAA Division II level. So far with the Panthers, she has been stellar - as a junior she led the Horizon League with a 0.75 goals-against average (the only sub-1.00 GAA in the league!) and a .827 save percentage. She was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 26 following a 1-0 shutout of Northern Kentucky on the road and again Oct. 17 following another shutout over Wright State.

THIS GUY IS FAB-ULOUS
Troy Fabiano was named the eighth head coach in program history in early 2015 and brought 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.

CATCH THEM ANYWHERE
Milwaukee women's soccer will be readily available for the viewing pleasure of UWM fans this season, as all 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.

ON TAP
The final game of the regular season is up next, with the Panthers traveling to Ohio to take on Cleveland State Friday. Game time against the Vikings is set for 6 p.m. CST.