The Milwaukee women's soccer team gets to take the show on the road for the first time this season, heading to play games in both Illinois and Iowa this weekend. Up first is a stop in Macomb, Ill., Friday for a matchup with Western Illinois. That will be followed by a trek into Iowa to take on Iowa State Sunday.

Friday's game against the Leathernecks is set for a 5 p.m. start. Sunday's affair with the Cyclones will get underway at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Cyclones.TV (fee-based). Both games will have live statistics available and all links can be found on the MKE website.

The Panthers are a perfect 5-0-0 all-time against WIU and, in fact, have yet to allow a goal in the series (28-0 cumulative total since the series started in 1997). Also included in those results was a 16-0 decision back in 1997 that stands as the most goals scored in a game in school history. A year ago, Milwaukee claimed a 3-0 win at home.

This will be the sixth meeting all-time with Iowa State, with MKE trailing at a slim 2-3-0 margin. Most recently, the Cyclones picked up a 1-0 victory in double-overtime at Engelmann Stadium. That decision, which came in September of 2016, also marks the last time the Panthers lost at home in the regular season (13-0-2 since).

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
WESTERN ILLINOIS: The Leathernecks posted a 2-15-0 mark in 2017, but do return key experience to the 2018 roster. In all, Western Illinois returns nine starters from last season and have a total of 14 players back on the field. The team enjoyed a strong exhibition slate, topping Horizon League foes UIC (1-0) and Green Bay (3-2). The regular season has not gone as strongly, posting a 1-3 mark through four games. The team has netted just a pair of goals, but do have a 1-0 victory over Northern Illinois on its ledger. Ines Palmiero Herrera has seen the majority of time in net, posting a .742 save percentage and 2.13 goals-against average.

IOWA STATE: The Cyclones are coming off a 3-12-3 campaign a season ago, but did rank No. 1 in the nation by playing a total of eight overtime contests. Iowa State returns its top six point-scorers from a season ago, including 11 of its top 12. Following a 2-0 victory over Drake in the exhibition season and another 2-0 defeat of South Dakota State in the season opener, the Cyclones have four losses and a draw (0-0 against Denver) over their next five outings and start the week at 1-4-1. Emily Stell (G/A) leads the offense with three points. Dayja Schwichtenberg has played every minute in goal, posting a .765 save percentage and 1.25 goals-against average.

PUT 'EM ON THE BALLOT
With the unbeaten start to the campaign, the Panthers continue to move up the United Soccer Coaches North Region Poll. The Week 3 version came out Sept. 4 and saw Milwaukee check in at No. 6, up two spots from the week prior. The team also picked up six votes in the national Top 25 poll in Week 3 as well.

WE'VE TIED HISTORY ... WHAT'S NEXT?
At 24 games (20-0-4), the current unbeaten streak has easily broken the former 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. 20-0-4 (2017 into 2018)
2. 9-0-4 (end of 2015/start of 2016)
3. 12-0-1 (2006)
4. 10-0-3 (2005)

The team has now tied the conference record of 24, set in 1994 when Notre Dame was part of the league and went 23-1-1, losing only in the NCAA Championship that fall. Amazingly enough at 24, MKE has finally cracked the Top 25 all-time for most consecutive games without a loss in NCAA women's soccer history. No. 1 on that list? A whopping 103 in a row by North Carolina, which was followed up by a streak of 101 more by the Tarheels the very next week in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

THOSE YOUNG 'UNS
The youth movement for the Panthers has arrived and is quickly coming together. Sophomore Mackenzie Schill and freshman Elaina LaMacchia were selected as Horizon League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 4. Prior to this fall, the last time a Milwaukee freshmen claimed POW honors was in 2015. LaMacchia marks the second one this year, joining Haley Johnson.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE
With the postponement of the Marquette game thrown in, Milwaukee has still played fewer games than the rest of the Horizon League ... yet still paces the offensive leaderboard by an impressive margin.

Six of the 10 league schools have played at least six games (MKE has four), yet the Panthers still lead the way in points with 31 (second has 26), goals with nine (tied) and assists with 13 (second with 9). In addition, the individual scoring list is littered with Panthers as well. Haley Johnson leads the league with eight (2G/4A) points. McKaela Schmelzer and Erin Corrigan (1G/2A apiece) are currently tied for fourth place with four.

HER TURN
Playing defense makes it tougher to score goals ... and missing a season with an injury can easily compound that. So, it was thrilling to see Erin Corrigan score the first goal of her MKE career in the win over Eastern Illinois Aug. 24. She netted the eventual game-winner on a free kick, perfectly placing the approximately 30-yard attempt into the corner of the net.

ALL HAIL THE NEW KID
Milwaukee freshman Haley Johnson did not wait long to make a great first impression, earning Nike Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors following her first collegiate contest. In the 3-0 win over Northern Illinois, Johnson assisted the game-winner in the 11th minute before striking for a goal of her own in the 16th minute. The last freshmen to earn league player of the week honors were Lourdes Onwuemeka in September of 2015 and Paige Lincicum at the end of the 2013 campaign. Johnson is the first MKE frosh to score in an opener since Sara Zawacki did so in 2012 and just the sixth newcomer to find the back of the net in the season opener all-time.

She still has a ways to go to keep pace with the freshman scoring standard at Milwaukee. Sarah Hagen had two goals in her debut, then followed that up with games of 1G/1A, 2G, 1G and 1G for 15 points in her first five outings back in 2008.

HOLD THE PHONE
Not to be outdone, classmate Elaina LaMacchia also achieved some lofty status, becoming just the fifth Milwaukee freshmen to record a shutout in her first collegiate start when she recorded three saves for the clean sheet against NIU. It was the first shutout for a freshmen in an opener since Jamie Forbes set a school record with four in a row to open the 2009 campaign. It also marked the fourth season in a row that the Panthers held their opponents out of the net (2017: 0-0 vs. Akron/2016: 1-0 over Akron/2015: 1-0 over Western Illinois).

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers opened the season at Engelmann Stadium with a 3-0 win over Northern Illinois to improve to an all-time record of 12-14-3 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level and a tally of 16-11-2 in home openers. The team has gone 3-2-2 in season openers the past seven years, with a 1-0 victory over Western Illinois in Troy Fabiano's debut in 2015 snapping a three-game stretch without a victory (Fabiano himself is now 3-0-1). A season ago, MKE opened the campaign with a 0-0 double-OT draw at Akron.

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played a pair of exhibition contests this year, recording shutout victories against Loyola Chicago (3-0 August 7 against a team picked as the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll) and Northern Iowa (1-0 August 11). The 0.00 GAA goalkeeping was split evenly between Olivia Davies and Allie Strottman, while the four goals were all scored by newcomers (freshman Haley Johnson, freshman Jelena Sever twice and junior Chandler McDaniel).

LOOKING BACK ON AN UNPRECEDENTED ACCOMPLISHMENT
After having gone 16-0-4 in 2017 and finishing the season as the lone unbeaten team in the nation, a look back at some of the accomplishments is quite impressive:
*No. 2 in the nation in goals-against average at 0.285 (Rutgers was No. 1 at 0.267)
*No. 2 in the nation in total assists with 61
*No. 2 in the nation in assists-per-game
*No. 3 in the nation with 19.8 shots-per-game
*No. 3 in the nation in save percentage at .908
*No. 3 in the nation in W-L-T percentage at .900
*No. 6 in the nation in total points with 151

Milwaukee became the first Horizon League team to ever finish a full season without a loss. The other close calls it topped were both by Notre Dame: the 1994 season (23-1-1) and the 1993 campaign (19-2-0).

PRESEASON POLL
Horizon League champions for a third season in a row after claiming a 17th regular-season title in the past 18 years last fall, the Milwaukee women's soccer team was picked by league coaches to again take first in the Horizon League regular season. The Panthers tallied five first-place votes and 87 points in the coaches' poll to claim the No. 1 spot.

2018 PRESEASON POLL
1. Milwaukee – 87 (5 first-place votes)
2. IUPUI – 80 (3)
3. Wright State – 72 (1)
4. Northern Kentucky – 69 (1)
5. Cleveland State – 66
6. UIC – 57
7. Oakland – 40
8. Detroit Mercy – 37
9. Youngstown State – 24
10. Green Bay – 18

INTERNET HYPE
The women's college soccer blog AllWhiteKit.com has also picked the Panthers to win the 2018 Horizon League title. The conference preview article labeled Lourdes Onwuemeka as "one of the league's breakout players last season" and "vital in keeping the Panthers scoring after netting six goals and nine assists last year". It goes on to target midfielder McKaela Schmelzer as a "vital figure this year after a solid sophomore season with six goals and six assists". Other observations included "a bigger role for last year's super sub du jour, Mackenzie Schill, as the sophomore started zero games but scored seven goals" and "a big wild card could be Fort Wayne transfer Jessica Schoenfeldt, who was something of a big fish in a tiny pond in 2017 but who could be a big part in ensuring the Panthers don't skip a beat in 2018".

NATIONAL PRESEASON PUB
When the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll came out in early August, Milwaukee saw itself receiving votes. That marked just the second time in program history for that accomplishment in the preseason, along with the initial poll of 2012. That poll followed a 2011 campaign where the squad finished 19-3-0 and No. 23 in the country. Milwaukee spent the bulk of the 2011 season ranked, cracking the Top-10 in the NSCAA poll for the first time ever, peaking at No. 9 in the Soccer America rankings.

TOP BILLING BY TOP DRAWER SOCCER
The Top Drawer Soccer website released its 2018 Horizon League preview and had this to say about who they thought was the top choice: "Last year's regular season crown marked the third straight year Milwaukee ruled the campaign, and it's certain that they enter the new season as the team to beat". They also listed Lourdes Onwuemeka and Kelli Swenson as "Key Players to Watch". In addition, Swenson was ranked No. 75 on the website's "Women's DI Top 100 Players to Watch".

SETTING THE TONE
Milwaukee was in control in nearly every game last season, scoring first (and early) on a regular basis. In fact, the Panthers went 14-0-0 when scoring first last year, 17-0-1 once they netted a second goal and 13-0-3 when outshooting the opponent.

The Panthers trailed for less than 15 total minutes (13:12) the entire regular season. After a comeback was needed in the semifinals of the postseason against Wright State, that number ended up at just 56:40. Based on 1,893:32 of total minutes on the overall campaign, that means that MKE trailed for just 2.9 percent of the total time (They were tied at 0-0 for a cumulative total of 757:07). WSU also became the first team to be ahead of Milwaukee on the scoreboard and it finally came in game No. 13. That 1-0 deficit lasted all of 50 seconds that day before it was tied again.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH
Not only has Troy Fabiano picked up his third Horizon League Coach of the Year honors in his three seasons at the helm, but his 40 victories are easily the most wins over the first three years of any coach in program history. The win total easily outdistances the 34 recorded by Michael Moynihan over the course of his first three seasons (13 in 1997, 10 in 1998 and 11 in 1999).

GOOD UP AND DOWN
One look at the team statistics following the conclusion of the 2017 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 MKE offense led the conference in points with 151 (second was 99), goals with 45 (second was 33), assists with 61 (second was 35) and shots with 19.8 per contest (15.0 was runner-up). Defensively, it was Milwaukee again leading the way in goals-against average at 0.29 (second was 1.08), fewest goals allowed at 6 (20) and shutouts at 14 (11).

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE
There will once again be plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2018. A season ago, 11 of the 30 players on the roster were making their MKE debuts. This year, 17 of the 32 student-athletes will be appearing in a Panther uniform for the first time (12 true freshmen and a trio of redshirt freshmen in addition to two transfers). Newcomers earned 18 total starts last campaign, with Taylor Tabbert accounting for all of them on her way to earning Horizon League All-Freshman Team honors. Mackenzie Schill joined her on the all-freshman team after appearing in all 20 games off the bench.

WELL-REPRESENTED
The Panthers had eight different players earn postseason honors. Highlighting the way was a program-best five first-team honorees, Kelli Swenson earning Defensive Player of the Year and Troy Fabiano being named the Horizon League Coach of the Year for the third year in a row.

The First-Team All-League members included a pair of second-time honorees in Anna Smalley and Cassidy Blanchard as well as Aubrey Krahn, Lourdes Onwuemeka and Swenson as first-time honorees.
 
Mallory Geurts joined her teammates with second-team accolades and both Taylor Tabbert and Mackenzie Schill round out the list with an appearance on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

GEURTS CLAMPED DOWN ON "D"
The season record for shutouts had stood at 13, a mark that Erin Kane established in 2005 and tied again in 2006. Mallory Geurts posted a shutout in the league title game to finish at 14 for a new school and Horizon League mark.
1. Geurts, 14 (2017)
2. Kane, 13 (2005 and 2006)
4. Jamie Forbes, 11 (2011)
5. Erin Kane, 10 (2007)

AN OPENING STATEMENT
A year ago, 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 20 games (16-0-4) obviously marked the best start to a new schedule for an MKE 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 IN 2017
With each passing week, the Panthers continued to make noise in the regional - and national - polls. The team started the 2017 season ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes Regional Poll. They 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 saw another rise, landing at No. 7 in the region to go along with 10 national votes. Again the bar was raised in Week 10, moving to sixth in the region and to 13 national votes, essentially sitting at No. 28 in the country.

RANKING RUNDOWN
Milwaukee topped Marquette, 2-1, September 17 last year 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 MKE 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 (Milwaukee had been 0-15-3 since and is now 3-33-6 all-time).

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 MKE fans this season, as all but one home game (and nearly all conference road games) will be streamed live on ESPN+. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN+ platform.

ESPN+, which will host the Horizon League women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball championships this fall, offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.

ON TAP
Just one game awaits, but it will be the Horizon League opener. It will be at Youngstown State Friday, set for a 6 p.m. CST start time.