ROCHESTER, Mich. – In a battle of Horizon League unbeatens, the Milwaukee women's soccer team claimed its sixth regular-season championship in the past seven years with a decisive 2-0 victory over Oakland Saturday afternoon at Oakland Soccer Field.
 
"I am really proud of the team to get a result on the road, in a tough environment against a good team. We were very good defensively as a team in limiting their opportunities today," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "We felt as the game went on, we were able to control the tempo of the game."
 
The Panthers (15-1, 10-0 Horizon League) broke open a 0-0 game at the half against the Golden Grizzlies (9-8-1, 8-1-1 Horizon League) with goals from Rachel Phillpotts and Mackenzie Schill to snap OU's eight-game winning streak and assure themselves the regular-season crown.
 
"Excited for two of our seniors to come up with two big goals in the game," Fabiano said. "Very happy for Rachel Phillpotts to score a goal in front of family members and friends [Phillpotts is from Linden, Mich. – about 30 miles from today's game]. And for Mackenzie Schill to score again – she has really lifted her game to another level."
 
With the victory, MKE will be the No. 1 seed and host the 2021 Horizon League Tournament November 4-6, 2021.
 
Still 0-0 well after the break, the Panther offense began to assert itself as the day went on. The team put together back-to-back corners in the 59^th minute, with Schill nearly getting on the scoreboard on the first one.
 
The needed break came in the 67^th minute and again, came after a corner kick. Gaby Schwartz's first attempt came back out to her, playing the ball to the center of the field for Clara Broecker. Broecker sent service to the top of the 18, headed down the right wing by Lesley Kiesling.
 
Phillpotts did the rest, bringing the ball to the ground with the first touch before sending the ball past the keeper with her second touch, making it 1-0 at the 66:52 mark with her fifth goal of the fall – all of which have come in the past eight games.
 
The Panthers then came up with the big insurance goal, with Schill heading in her league-leading 12^th of the fall off a Schwartz corner kick to make it 2-0 at the 71:53 mark. Schill now tops the conference with 28 points (12G/4A).
 
The first half was a defensive battle, with two key plays standing out. First in the 28^th minute, seeing Elaina LaMacchia go full-out for a save. And second, in the 38^th minute, when OU goalkeeper Noemi Stadelmann somehow got enough of Jelena Sever's well-placed free kick to the upper-90, popping it just over the bar to keep it scoreless at the time.
 
For the game, Oakland did end up with a 10-to-7 advantage in shots, with each squad putting three on frame. MKE did earn seven of the nine corners and concluded the match with 54 percent of possession. Schill led the offense with three shots; the assist was the 18^th of the season for Schwartz to extend her NCAA lead, as well as the MKE season and career (41) marks.
 
LaMacchia was credited with three saves in posting her sixth solo shutout of the season (and 11^th overall she has been a part of as well). She lowered her league-leading goals-against average to 0.42 and upped her best-in-class save percentage to .878, both of which are also Top 10 in the nation.
 
Up next, the team will close out the regular-season slate with one more game at home against Green Bay Wednesday. The contest against the Phoenix will also serve as "Senior Night" and will kickoff at 7 p.m.