FRANKLIN, Wis. – A goal in the 17^th minute from Maggy Henschler and two more from Rachel Phillpotts sent the Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 3-0 shutout of Detroit Mercy Wednesday afternoon at the MOSH Performance Center.
 
The Panthers (5-1) were in control of the match following the first score, defeating the Titans (1-4-1) for the 14^th consecutive time in the series in the process, including the sixth straight by shutout.
 
All three MKE goals came on set pieces, with Henschler heading in the eventual winner off a corner kick at the 16:04 mark. It was her first of the season and was set up by Gaby Schwartz.
 
"It was a physical game, I give Detroit a lot of credit," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "They have improved a lot and I like the way they compete, but I was also pretty impressed with our team too. I think the transition from our training environment from indoors to outdoors the last week or two allowed us to work on some things that we couldn't earlier. It comes down to the willingness to go up and compete for those balls. That's the biggest thing we tell our players."
 
The win was also a milestone for Fabiano, marking No. 300 in his coaching career. That brings his career record to 300-87-41 (78-13-12 at Milwaukee) for an impressive .749 winning percentage.
 
Elaina LaMacchia then kept her team up 1-0 in the 19^th minute, making an impressive save to punch away a blast from the right wing on Detroit's most dangerous opportunity of the afternoon.
 
"It seemed like we struggled getting into the flow early," Fabiano said. "I thought the energy was good from on the field and the players on the bench. We were connecting, just that final pass which is always difficult in soccer, helped give us some momentum and some confidence once we scored."
 
The second goal was a carbon-copy, this time from the other side of the field with Phillpotts heading in Schwartz's corner to make it 2-0 at the 26:58 mark.
 
Jelena Sever just missed making it 3-0 before the break, seeing her close-range attempt stopped nicely by the UDM keeper in the 29^th minute.
 
Phillpotts closed the door on the game in the 70^th minute, blasting a header off the bottom of the cross bar and in, coming off a free kick from the endline following a foul. It was Schwartz again, recording her third assist of the match.
 
The three assists marked a career-best for Schwartz and tied for the fourth-most in a game in program history (last accomplished by Erin Corrigan in 2018).
 
LaMacchia (5 saves in 81:13) and Allie Strottman (1 save in 8:47) combined for the clean sheet, the third of the campaign for the Panthers.
 
Milwaukee claimed a 55/45 advantage in possession on the day, with a 13-to-11 edge in total shots. Each team finished with seven shots on goal, while Milwaukee took six of the seven corner kicks.
 
A total of 24 different players saw action for the Panthers, a season-high. Phillpotts led the way with three shots, with nine different players recording attempts.
 
"I think it's just huge," Fabiano said of getting so many players onto the field. "We have so many kids that are working hard and when you have the restrictions on travel and who can dress, you want to give some kids that reward for coming every day and training hard but haven't been able to play a lot. And the girls that play a lot of minutes see that also and support them."
 
Up next, the Panthers head to Illinois next week, set for a 1 p.m. kickoff against UIC indoors at Loves Park, Ill., Wednesday.