The Milwaukee women's soccer team and its unprecedented start will get a true test this week, opening Horizon League play against Detroit Mercy Friday evening followed by a battle against nationally-ranked Marquette Sunday night.

The Panthers are off to debatably the best start in school history, having posted an unbeaten 7-0-1 mark to this point. Not only are they unbeaten, but the defense has yet to allow a goal at any point this year. Now ranked No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes Regional poll and receiving votes in the national poll, the team sets its sight on extending the school-record shutout streak it has already established this season.

That starts Friday against the Titans, hosting the league opener under the lights at 7 p.m. The weekend then concludes at home Sunday, welcoming the Golden Eagles - who are 7-1-0 and ranked No. 19 in this week's United Soccer Coaches National Poll - at Engelmann Stadium, also at 7 p.m.

Both games will have ESPN3 streams and live statistics available, with all links on the UWM website. Matt Schroeder is on the call Friday and Matt Menzl with have the crosstown rivalry affair Sunday evening.

UWM is an amazing 20-2-1 in league openers, having won its past four (a 1-0 loss to Wright State in 2012 in the only blemish since 1996, a 20-1-1 stretch). That includes a 2-0 mark for Troy Fabiano, who beat UIC last year (5-1) and Oakland (2-1 in OT) in 2015.

The Panthers are an impressive 21-7-2 all-time against Detroit Mercy and will carry a 10-game winning streak against the visitors into play Friday night. Seven of those 10 wins have been UWM shutouts, including a year ago when Milwaukee claimed a 1-0 win on a late goal by Anna Smalley.

Milwaukee and Marquette have battled to a near stalemate in the series, with Marquette currently holding the razor-thin 9-8-8 edge. The past two meetings between these squads have resulted in 1-1 draws. Milwaukee won the last that went to decision, a 5-4 shootout in 2014.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
DETROIT MERCY: The Titans have opened the 2017 season at 2-5-1 and have seen some tough luck of late. They have dropped their past five games, netting just a pair of goals in that span. Rachel Russo (4G) and Rachel DeLuca (2G/4A) lead the offense with eight points. Marina Manzo has posted a 1.22 GAA and .828 save percentage, playing all 740 minutes of the eight games.

The Titans did bring back three of their top five scorers from last season and a trio of award winners. DeLuca was the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, while Manzo was the Goalkeeper of the Year and Phylisha Drayton was selected to the All-League Second Team.

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles enter the United Soccer Coaches poll at No. 19 this week after a 2-1 win over Rhode Island and a 1-0 blanking of Boston University last week that improved them to 7-1-0 on the season. The only loss was a 4-0 defeat against Stanford in the season opener. Darian Powell leads the offense with 10 points (3G/4A). Maddy Henry has played all but 25 minutes in goal, posting a 0.78 GAA and three solo shutouts.

Forward Carrie Madden was named to the All-Big East Conference Preseason Team and the squad was selected to finish third in the annual preseason survey of the league's coaches. The 2016 regular season co-champs returned 15 letter winners from a 12-8-2 (7-2 league) squad that made its 13th NCAA tournament appearance.

THAT'S A BIG ZERO
The Panthers defense has not yet been scored upon this season, with goalkeeper Mallory Geurts setting a new record for most scoreless minutes to begin a new campaign and overall as well. She heads into the game Friday at 742:06, with her eight individual shutouts tops in the nation.
 
Milwaukee remains one of just two schools in the country to carry a perfect 0.00 goals-against average - Rutgers is the only other. For comparison, the next best school in the Horizon League (IUPUI), has allowed an average of 0.88 goals per game this season.

BLANKING THEM ALL
For Mallory Geurts, posting shutouts is starting to become routine. She has broken 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.

Longest Shutout Streak By A Goalkeeper
1.     742:06      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

AN OPENING STATEMENT
The Panthers tied the school record by opening the season with four consecutive shutouts and have now extended that mark to eight in a row. The only other time four had been accomplished was 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 eight games (7-0-1) marks the best start for a UWM team since the 2011 squad started 6-0. The last team to open at least seven games unbeaten was back in 2008, when the Panthers started the campaign at 6-0-1 through seven games. The longest unbeaten start belongs to the 1997 squad that went 7-0-2 before suffering its first loss in game 10.

BIG STUFF FOR SMALLEY
Anna Smalley has turned up her offensive game of late, netting back-to-back game-winners against Indiana State and Northern Illinois to give her a league-best three winners on the season. She now has 12 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): 12
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
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.

THAT'S TWO
Milwaukee started the season in impressive fashion a year ago, posting victories over Akron and Northern Illinois. That marked the first 2-0 start to a new campaign since 2011's 6-0 start.

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
Just one game on the schedule next week, as Milwaukee continues Horizon League play. The squad heads to Chicago Saturday for a 7 p.m. start against UIC.