With the Milwaukee women's soccer team sitting at 5-0 in conference play, the race for the regular-season title continues to get more in focus. The Panthers start the week as the only unbeaten team, with Oakland (3-1-1) its closest current competitor.

MKE can help solidify its positioning with a single outing this week, hosting Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium. The Norse have been in the mix every year since joining the Horizon League, starting the week at 2-3 in league play. In addition, the Panthers check in at No. 6 in this week's United Soccer Coaches North Regional poll, and have recently been as high as No. 5.

The game is set for Saturday afternoon, kicking off at 1 p.m. The contest against the Norse will be shown on ESPN3 (subscription-based) with Matt Schroeder on the call and will also have live stats provided. All links are available on the Milwaukee website.

The ledger against Northern Kentucky reads 2-1-2 in the Panthers' favor, with every game close - the three that did not end in a draw were one-goal decisions either way. A year ago, Taylor Hattori scored in the 66th minute in late October as the team clinched the regular-season crown with a 1-0 victory.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
NORTHERN KENTUCKY: Northern Kentucky was picked to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll, following a 10-6-1 mark last year which included a 6-2-1 run in league play. The Norse returned 16 players from last year's team, including leading scorer Shawna Zaken, and welcomed nine newcomers to the squad. Bob Sheehan is in his 23rd season (321-113-29) at the helm of the NKU women's soccer team. His teams are an impressive 25-8-5 in Horizon League regular-season play.

This fall, the team has struggled a bit, entering play at 5-7 overall and 2-3 in conference games. The Norse have dropped three of their past four, including a 3-0 loss at home to Cleveland State in the most recent decision. Zaken has nearly twice as many points as any other player at a team-best 17 (8G/1A). In net, Mimi Stines has a 1.43 goals-against average and a .793 save percentage.

EMBRACE THE BRACE
Last year, the Panthers had just two games in which a season-high two goals were scored by the same player, with both McKaela Schmelzer (UIC Sept. 22) and Jelena Sever (Western Illinois Sept. 7) finding the back of the net twice in a game.

Fast-forward to this fall and, not only did it happen quickly (Sever in game three against Indiana State Aug. 30, no less), but has now been done by four different players after Julia Barajas accomplished the feat against Wright State Oct. 12. The goals garnered Barajas - who scored in the 59th and 80th minutes - Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week accolades, marking the fifth time a Panther has been recognized this fall.

Barajas and Sever join Haley Johnson and Taylor Hattori in 2019. Johnson recorded her first multi-goal game of her collegiate career against Eastern Illinois Sept. 6, finding the back of the net in the fourth and 57th minutes. Hattori's came at Cleveland State Sept. 28, netting tallies at 2:34 (the eventual game-winner) and 53:25.

ALMOST AS GOOD AS A BRICK WALL
Elaina LaMacchia was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season Oct. 7 after posting a pair of shutouts against Green Bay and UIC. The outing against the Flames was an impressive one, finishing the day with a career-best 10 saves (prior best was seven) - just the second time since 2003 an MKE goalkeeper recorded 10-or-more saves in a game that ended in regulation.

Those clean sheets, along with another against Wright State Oct. 12, helped her extend her scoreless streak to seven appearances and 629:48 heading into play this week - breaking into the program's top five marks in the category.

1. Mallory Geurts: 917:27 in 2017 (9th-longest in NCAA history)
2. Erin Kane: 717:10 in 2005
3. Paige Lincicum: 697:53 in 2015
4. LaMacchia: 629:48 and counting, 2019
5. Erin Kane: 595:22 in 2006
6. Erin Kane: 590:52 in 2006

JUST WIN BABY
The Panthers are on an impressive streak, posting nine consecutive wins heading into play this week. In addition, the last three have been shutouts (as have been six of the past seven outings). The team will go for 10 straight wins for just the fourth time in program history Saturday against the Norse. The school record is 11 consecutive victories, accomplished in 2006 when the team finished 16-4-2. Milwaukee has also won 10 in a row in the 2009 and 2017 campaigns.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSE
Back-line defender Gaby Schwartz continues her breakout campaign on the offensive side of the ball, currently sitting tied for first place in the Horizon League with a team-best 18 points (5G/8A), while her assists total leads the conference and currently ranks 17th in the nation. It's easily a career-high for Schwartz, topping the six points (all on assists) that she recorded over her first two years with the Panthers. She was named the Horizon League "Offensive" Player of the Week Sept. 9, following a stretch where she netted back-to-back game-winners against Eastern Illinois and Butler, as well as three assists on the other six MKE goals in the pair of outings. Not only is the award is the first of Schwartz's career, it is also the first time an MKE defender has claimed the offensive side of the award since Amy Kauffung in August of 2012.

SETTING THE TONE
Milwaukee continued its recent trend of picking up wins after getting on the board first. The Panthers went a perfect 16-0 when finding the back of the net first in 2018, which included a 9-0 mark when leading at halftime. That now improves the squad to 42-0 the past two-plus seasons after getting the first goal of a game. They are also 36-0-4 when outshooting their opponent in that same span, getting outshot just 10 times over the two-plus year stretch.

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The Panthers are back at it, topping the Horizon League in all team categories on the offensive side of the ball. The team paces the conference in points with 105 (second is 63), goals at 33 (24) and assists at 39 (second has 22). In fact, the scoring offense of 2.54 goals-per-game ranks 11th in the nation, points-per-game (8.1) is seventh and the 39 assists currently fifth in the NCAA DI level.

The goals came quickly against Cleveland State Sept. 28, with Gaby Schwartz getting MKE on the board just 61 seconds into the afternoon. When Taylor Hattori added a second at the 2:34 mark, it went down as the second-fastest the team ever scored two goals to open a game. The only one faster? That would be the 2-0 lead against Loyola Chicago done in 1:43 back in October of 1998. That day, Katie Waltenberger scored the fastest first-goal in school history at 26 seconds, while Mara Thompson made it 2-0 just 103 seconds in.

THE BEAT GOES ON
The Panthers may have had their overall unbeaten streak (at a Horizon League and school-record total of 27 [23-0-4])come to an end in the early portion of the 2018 campaign, but the following two streaks remain active for the Panthers as the 2019 season rolls on.
**29 games unbeaten at home in regular-season play (27-0-2)
--Last regular-season loss at home against Iowa State (1-0 in OT) on 9/11/2016
**29 games unbeaten overall in regular-season Horizon League play (27-0-2)
--Last regular-season loss against Valparaiso (2-1 in OT) on 9/28/2016

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
The Panthers have had 12 different players score goals this season (nine with three or more), with that number reaching 15 for players who have recorded points. For perspective on the balance of the squad, only one other league team besides Milwaukee has more than seven players who have found the back of the net this season (Green Bay is in second with 11).

CORNER KICK SPECIALISTS
The Panthers have become quite dangerous on corner kicks over the past several seasons. In fact, in 2018, Milwaukee scored on corner kicks on nine different occasions - including a pair of corners that went into the goal unassisted by Erin Corrigan. This season has also been strong behind the leg of Gaby Schwartz, following Corrigan's graduation - seven of her eight assists this season have come on corner kick opportunities, and she nearly had another against Cleveland State Sept. 28, with Haley Steel scoring off a deflection in front following a corner. The Panthers did score their fifth goal against CSU on a CK, with McKaela Schmelzer heading in a Chandler McDaniel offering late in the contest. The team got another against UIC Oct. 6, with Rachel Phillpotts heading in a Schwartz effort.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!
Milwaukee went 5-1-4 at home in Troy Fabiano's first season back in 2015. Since then, the Panthers have posted an impressive 32-3-4 ledger at Engelmann Stadium (an .872 winning percentage), with an unbeaten 9-0-1 run through 10 home outings a season ago.

NOT TOO SHABBY
When it comes to Horizon League openers, the record is quite impressive all-time. Milwaukee has now gone 23-2-1 in opening action (since joining the league in 1994), with a string of 14 wins in a row from 1998 through 2011. The squad has victories in each of the past seven as well, following a 2-0 win over Detroit Mercy earlier this fall.

The Panthers have had a very long line of success when it comes to Horizon League play, claiming the regular-season title in each of the past four seasons as well as 18 of the past 19 titles overall. In fact, under the watch of Troy Fabiano, the team went a sparkling 32-1-3 over the past four campaigns in regular-season conference play.

THAT'S NO C.K. FOR YOU!
The Milwaukee defense has been buckling down of late. A deeper look inside box scores also shows that the Panthers did not give up a single corner kick to either Western Illinois Sept. 12 or Marquette Sept. 15. It's been a while since the team has had such a streak. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 2009 season - a campaign in which they accomplished the feat in three straight games ... and did that on two separate occasions! The Panthers opened October with no corner kicks allowed in three in a row and then closed out the league postseason run strong, allowing no corners to Green Bay Oc.t 26, Loyola Nov. 6 and Valparaiso Nov. 8 that season.

SHE'S BAAAAAAAAA-AAAACK!
After missing some time due to injury, Elaina LaMacchia is back in the starting lineup for the Panthers. She responded in a big way, earning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors Sept. 16. She did her part to help the Panthers to a pair of wins, recording a combined shutout Thursday with two saves in 76:46 of time in net against Western Illinois.

She followed that up with her ninth career solo shutout in a big win over Marquette Sunday night, making three saves against the Golden Eagles in 104:26 between the pipes to clinch the third weekly honor of her career.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers improved to 13-14-3 all-time in season openers (8-11-2 in season openers on the road) following their 2-1 win over DePaul Aug. 22. That improves the squad to 4-2-2 in the past eight season openers, with Troy Fabiano improving to an unbeaten 4-0-1 in his five years at the helm. In addition, the Panthers moved to 17-11-2 in home openers following their 3-1 win over Northern Illinois Aug. 25. A season ago, MKE opened the campaign with a 3-0 victory over NIU at home.

STEPPING UP
Redshirt sophomore Allie Strottman made the most of her opportunity after getting the start in the season opener at DePaul Aug. 22. After appearing in just a pair of games as a freshman a year ago, she continued to make save after save against the Blue Demons, including three key stops in the final 10 minutes of regulation to preserve the one-goal victory. In all, she totaled 11 saves, the first Panther to record 10-or-more in a game in just under three years (last to do it was Mallory Geurts with 11 against Iowa State on Sept. 11, 2016). In fact, it's just the fifth time in the past 10 years and only the 15th such occurrence in program history - and the first time it was done in regulation since 2003. The school record is 16 by Abbey White back in 1994 (at Arizona).

List of most recent 10-or-more saves performances:
8/22/19: Allie Strottman at DePaul (11)
9/11/16: Mallory Geurts vs. Iowa State (11/OT)
11/2/12: Jamie Forbes vs. Loyola Chicago (11/2OT)
9/8/10: Leslie Deebach at Marquette (11/2OT)
9/12/03: Kerri St. Aubin at #3 UCLA (11)

FAST STARTER
For the second year in a row, Haley Johnson was named the Horizon League Player of the Week following Week One of the new season. She burst on the scene a year ago, assisting the game-winner in the 11th minute and scoring just 15 minutes into her debut against Northern Illinois. This season, the sophomore scored a goal in each game, the opening week helping the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over DePaul and a 3-1 win over NIU to open the season at 2-0.
 
She tallied the first goal of the game in both contests, also assisting the game-winner against NIU Aug. 25 to finish the week with a league-best five points.

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played a pair of exhibition contests this year, splitting a pair of games against Purdue (a 1-0 loss that was scoreless until the final minutes) and Loyola Chicago (a 3-1 win against a Rambler team that was again picked as the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll). The 1.00 GAA goalkeeping as a team was split between Elaina LaMacchia (0.54 GAA in 166 minutes) and Olivia Davies-McDaniel (1 GA in 13:47). Haley Johnson (1G/1A) and Mackenzie Schill (1G/1A) led the offense in scoring, with Johnson and McKenna Stratton each compiling a team-best four shots.

PRESEASON POLL
Horizon League champions for a fourth season in a row after claiming an 18th regular-season title in the past 19 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 eight first-place votes and 90 points in the coaches' poll to claim the No. 1 spot.

2019 PRESEASON POLL
1. Milwaukee – 90 (8)
2. Northern Kentucky – 79
3. Cleveland State – 73 (2)
4. IUPUI – 64
5. Wright State – 61
6. Oakland – 59
7. UIC – 44
8. Detroit Mercy – 30
9. Youngstown State – 29
10. Green Bay – 16

TOP BILLING BY TOP DRAWER SOCCER
The Top Drawer Soccer website released its 2019 Horizon League preview and had this to say about who they thought was the top choice: "The chase for the conference crown has the potential to be wide open, considering the caliber of players that graduated. It would be surprising to look outside Milwaukee as the favorite". They also listed Haley Johnson and McKaela Schmelzer as "Key Players to Watch".

WELL-REPRESENTED
The Panthers had seven different players earn postseason honors last fall. Highlighting the way was Kelli Swenson repeating as Defensive Player of the Year, Haley Johnson being selected the Freshman of the Year and Troy Fabiano being named the Horizon League Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row.

Swenson and Johnson were also honored with spots on the First-Team All-Horizon League, marking back-to-back seasons for Swenson. Three players were named to the Second-Team All-League, with Erin Corrigan, Lourdes Onwuemeka and McKaela Schmelzer representing the Panthers on the squad. Johnson was also tabbed for the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. She was joined on that list by classmates Elaina LaMacchia and Jelena Sever.

NEVER-ENDING RAISING OF THE BAR
Not only has Troy Fabiano picked up his fourth Horizon League Coach of the Year honors in his four seasons at the helm (also becoming the first conference coach to win four in a row since 1991-94), but his 56 victories are easily the most wins over the first four years of any coach in program history. The total easily outdistances the 45 recorded by Michael Moynihan over the course of his first four (13 in 1997, 10 in 1998 and 11 in 1999, 11 in 2000).

IS THIS GOOD? ... ASKING FOR A FRIEND
Let's be honest, the Panthers have been very good since the start of the 2017 campaign. How good? Well, at 32-2-5 (.885), they actually have the second-best winning percentage in the nation over that span heading into 2019. The only one higher is 2017 NCAA National Champion Stanford, who has a 45-2-2 (.939) ledger over the same time frame. No. 3 on that list is Duke at 39-6-3 (.875), with Georgetown (35-4-7/.837), UCLA (36-6-5/.819) and North Carolina (38-7-4/.816) making up the rest of the top six.

2019 YOUTH MOVEMENT
A big youth movement for the Panthers arrived in 2018 and will look to continue to grow this fall. Then-freshman Jelena Sever was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 10 after netting three goals - including both game-winners - for the Panthers. That just added to the list ... classmate Elaina LaMacchia was selected as Horizon League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 4. Prior to last fall, the last time a Milwaukee freshman claimed POW honors was in 2015. Sever marked the third one this year, joining LaMacchia and Haley Johnson.

THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR
Milwaukee recorded 1-0 victories in three of its last five contests to claim the Horizon League crown in 2018. That 1-0 scoreline has a familiar ring to it, as the team has been simply amazing in games featuring that final score recently. Since Troy Fabiano stepped on campus, the Panthers have played 24 games that ended 1-0 (either way). Their record? An impressive 19-5 in those pressure-packed outings.

BEYOND THEIR YEARS
This year's sophomore roster consists of three players who are truly battle-tested after their freshmen campaigns. The trio of Haley Johnson, Jelena Sever and Elaina LaMacchia were actually in the starting lineup for every one of the 19 games last season.

How rare is that for the Panthers? It has happened just 15 times in program history, with the last time one freshman started every game for the entire year was back in 2016 - when McKaela Schmelzer had her name called 20 times. The only other time it was three players was 1994.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
Milwaukee saw its league and school record unbeaten streak come to an end at 27 games (23-0-4) following a tough 1-0 loss on Sept. 17 of last season. That more than doubled-up 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. 23-0-4 (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 also broke 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. The mark finds a place in the history books as well, going down as the 12th-longest unbeaten streak in NCAA 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.

An in-depth look at the streak - which lasted 681 days - showed the following:
**Went 31 games unbeaten in regular-season play (28-0-3)
**Went 15 games unbeaten on the road (14-0-1)

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE
There will once again be plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2019. A season ago, 17 of the 32 players on the roster were making their MKE debuts (12 true freshmen and a trio of redshirt freshmen in addition to two transfers). This year, 13 of the 32 student-athletes will be appearing in a Panther uniform for the first time (10 true freshmen and a pair of redshirt freshmen in addition to one transfer). Newcomers earned 57 total starts last campaign, with Haley Johnson going on to earn Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors. Jelena Sever and Elaina LaMacchia joined her on the league all-freshman team.

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 home games (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
The Panthers close out October with a pair of games, starting with a home contest against IUPUI Wednesday. Game time against the Jaguars is set for 7 p.m.