The Milwaukee women's soccer program will embark on its 30th season of NCAA Division I soccer (and 36th overall) this week with a pair of games, starting with the opener Thursday at DePaul. Then, on Sunday, the home opener sees the Panthers welcoming Northern Illinois under the lights.

Thursday's tilt against the Blue Demons will be available on DePaul All-Access. Sunday's game gets underway at 7 p.m. at Engelmann Stadium. The matchup with the Huskies will be streamed live on ESPN+ (fees apply) with Matt Menzl on the call and both will also have live statistics for fans to follow along with the action. All links are on the Milwaukee website.

Milwaukee holds the slim 4-3 lead over DePaul in the all-time series, which includes a 2-1 victory at home a season ago.

The Panthers and Huskies have played 10 total times since 1993, with MKE holding a 9-1-0 mark that includes nine victories in a row. The teams have recently played every year since 2015 - including a 3-0 Milwaukee win in 2018 - with that 2015 contest marking the first between the schools in 17 years.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
DePAUL: Last season, the Blue Demons went 8-6-5 overall and finished in a three-way tie for fourth-place in the Big East with Providence and Xavier. The Blue Demons return 17 players with the addition of nine freshman. Six starters are back as well. They have been picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches in the 2019 preseason poll. Head coach Erin Chastain enters her 13th season at the helm of the program, joined by Michele O'Brien in her sixth year as associate head coach. The squad dropped exhibition games to Northwestern (1-0 Aug. 10) and Wisconsin (3-1 Aug. 14) earlier this month.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies are coming off a 2-17 campaign last fall. Julie Colhoff enters her second season as head coach of the Huskies in 2019 after laying a new foundation for the program, introducing a more possession-based style of soccer, despite dealing with numerous injuries throughout the team. NIU's youthful roster saw the freshman and sophomore classes makes a combined 92 starts during the 2018 campaign. The team fell to Chicago State (3-0 Aug. 18) and drew with Eastern Illinois (1-1 Aug. 16) during the preseason.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers open the season at DePaul Thursday, carrying an all-time record of 12-14-3 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level and a tally of 7-11-2 in road 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 3-0 victory over Northern Illinois at home. Speaking of, when the Panthers host the Huskies Sunday, they will look to improve on their 16-11-2 mark in home openers.

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.

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 improves the squad to 30-0 the past two seasons after getting the first goal of a game. They are also 26-0-4 when outshooting their opponent in that same span, getting outshot just seven times over the two-year stretch.

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. 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.

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 kicks off.
**23 games unbeaten at home in regular-season play (21-0-2)
**24 games unbeaten overall in regular-season Horizon League play (22-0-2)

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 25-3-4 ledger at Engelmann Stadium (an .844 winning percentage) , with an unbeaten 9-0-1 run through 10 home outings a season ago.

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 21 games that ended 1-0 (either way). Their record? An impressive 17-4 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's 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)

NOT TOO SHABBY
When it comes to Horizon League openers, the record is quite impressive all-time. Milwaukee has now gone 22-2-1 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 six as well, following a 1-0 win at YSU.

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.

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
Up next is the first road trip of the season, taking the Panthers to play at Indiana State Friday and Eastern Kentucky Sunday.