The Milwaukee women's soccer program will embark on its 32nd season of NCAA Division I soccer (and 38th overall) this week with a pair of games, starting with the opener Thursday at home against Northern Illinois. Then, on Sunday, the Panthers welcome Western Illinois for a matinee matchup.

Thursday's tilt against the Huskies will be available on ESPN+ (subscription needed) with Matt Schroeder on the call and will kick off at 7 p.m. On Sunday, catch the action on the Black & Gold Network with Matt Menzl calling the audio stream, set for a 1 p.m. start. Both games will also have live statistics for fans to follow along with the action. All links are on the Milwaukee website.

The Panthers and Huskies have played 11 total times since 1993, with MKE holding a 10-1-0 mark that includes 10 victories in a row. The teams have recently played every year since 2015 - including a 3-1 Milwaukee win in 2019 - with that 2015 contest marking the first between the schools in 17 years.

The Panthers are a perfect 7-0-0 all-time against WIU and had yet to allow a goal in the series prior to 2018 (now 34-1 cumulative total since the series started in 1997). Also included in those results is a 16-0 decision back in 1997 that stands as the most goals scored in a game in school history. Milwaukee claimed a 3-0 victory at home the last time these two teams met in 2019.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Julie Colhoff enters her fourth season as head coach of the Huskies in 2021 and is coming off a tough 1-9 season in the COVID-shortened spring campaign. Kierah Meier and Haley Hoppe each led the offense with two goals apiece last year. Meier did become the first Huskie named to the MAC All-Freshman Team since the 2017 season and NIU had another outstanding off-field school year with 13 Academic All-MAC honorees. Julia Lentz spent the majority of time between the pipes, posting a 2.02 goals-against average and a .739 save percentage. The team fell to Northern Iowa, 1-0, in its only exhibition action.

WESTERN ILLINOIS: The Leathernecks played 16 games this past spring, going 2-13-1 overall. All five seniors from last year are set to return, led by forward Amy Andrews who scored seven goals in her 15 appearances (14 starts) last season, as well as Jenna Lundgren, who led the team with four assists across 16 matches. The team played a pair of exhibition games this fall, drawing with SEMO (1-1 Aug. 8), while also blowing out Southeastern Community College (12-0 Aug. 16). Their season opener will be Thursday at Nebraska.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers open the season against Northern Illinois Thursday, carrying an all-time record of 14-14-3 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level. The team has gone 5-2-2 in season openers the past nine 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 an unbeaten 5-0-1). A season ago, MKE opened the campaign with a 5-1 victory over Robert Morris on the road. In addition, the Panthers are 17-12-2 in home openers.

SPECTATOR POLICY
The Milwaukee Panther Athletic Department announced that fans will be allowed at all home Panther fall athletic events this year. In a decision that was made by Athletics and University leadership, no capacity limits will be in place, but adherence to the current Milwaukee Public Health and CDC recommendations will be followed. UWM policy directs that all individuals are required to wear a face covering indoors, regardless of vaccination status, when at a home Milwaukee Panther Athletics event this fall. Outdoors, masks are encouraged but not required when around other people.

BACK FOR MORE
Half of last year's senior class has taken advantage of the COVID-year of eligibility and is returning for an encore. The group of Rachel Phillpotts, Gaby Schwartz, and Mackenzie Schill has gone an impressive 58-6-7 overall (.866 winning percentage), including a stellar 31-1-3 (.929) in conference play. They have claimed three Horizon League regular-season titles and gone to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. For perspective, half of their six overall losses in their span on campus have come in season-ending defeats that took place in the NCAA Tournament.

HOME SWEET HOME
After playing just three home games during the COVID-shortened season this past spring, the Panthers are doing something that has never been done before: playing seven consecutive contests at Engelmann Stadium for the first time in program history. In fact, MKE will not play a road game until traveling to Pennsylvania to take on Robert Morris Sept. 19 - one full month after the season opener. Prior to this fall, the longest stretch of home games to OPEN a season was four, set in 2018. Also prior to this homestand, the longest of ANY kind during a campaign was five, occurring in 2019.

RECAPPING THE 2020 SPRING NCAA TRIP
The Panthers made their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 13th with the Horizon League's automatic berth this past spring. Milwaukee made previous tournament trips in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008-13, 2018, and 2019. The team has previously been sent to Minnesota (1997), Madison (2009/2019), Ann Arbor (2013), Santa Clara (2018), Notre Dame three times (2006, 2008, 2012) and across town to Marquette four times (2001-02, 2005, 2010). They also hosted their 2011 first-round match.

With the win over Elon, the team has now posted an all-time mark in the event of 2-14-2, also claiming a 3-0 victory over Illinois State at home in 2011 in addition to advancing to the second round following PK shootouts in both 2006 (T, 0-0 vs. Michigan/advance 5-3) and 2005 (T, 0-0 vs. Purdue/advance 6-5).

HOW THEY GOT THERE
The Panthers earned the Horizon League's automatic bid following a thrilling penalty-kick shootout after they played top-seeded Northern Kentucky to a 0-0 draw through regulation and two overtime periods. Horizon League Tournament MVP Elaina LaMacchia came up big in the PK round, making saves in rounds four and five to send Milwaukee to the title by a final score of 4-3. Although the game officially goes into the books as a tie, the Panthers advanced with the decision to claim the Horizon League Tournament championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and the 14th time in program history.

POSTSEASON SIX-PACK OF PANTHERS
Milwaukee landed six different players with postseason honors in 2020, highlighted by Rachel Phillpotts and Jelena Sever earning First-Team All-Horizon League honors. Earning second-team status was Mackenzie Schill, Taylor Hattori, and Elaina LaMacchia, with newcomer Clara Broecker picking up a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. In addition, three members of the team were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region Team. Phillpotts was selected as a member of the First Team, with Sever and Natalie Auble earning a spot on the Second Team. The honors were career-firsts for each player and mark the first time since 2013 that the Panthers had three players earn all-region accolades.

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 58-6-7 (.866), they actually have the second-best winning percentage in the nation over that span heading into 2021. The only one higher is 2019 & 2017 NCAA National Champion Stanford, who has a 75-9-4 (.875) ledger over the same time frame. No. 3 on that list is North Carolina (80-11-5/.859), with Georgetown (60-9-12/.815), UCLA (67-12-9/.813), and Duke (60-15-14/.753) to follow.

SETTING THE TONE
Milwaukee continued its recent trend of picking up victories after getting on the board first. The Panthers went a perfect 9-0 when finding the back of the net first in 2020, which included a 7-0 mark when leading at halftime. That now improves the squad to 56-0 the past four seasons after getting the first goal of a game after a 17-0 ledger in 2019, 16-0 in 2018, and 14-0 in 2017. They are also 51-1-6 when outshooting their opponent in that same span, getting outshot just 13 times over the four-year stretch.

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 38-5-4 ledger at Engelmann Stadium (an .816 winning percentage), including a perfect 11-0 run through home outings in the fall of 2019.

THE BEAT WENT ON FOR A LONG TIME
The Panthers ran into something they hadn't seen in a long time March 3, 2020 when they faced IUPUI ... a regular-season Horizon League loss. In fact, to put it in perspective, it had been 1,617 days since that last occurred, a 2-1 defeat in overtime to Valparaiso on Sept. 28, 2016. More impressively, just one player - redshirt senior Gaby Schwartz - was even on the roster at that point in time. Every other MKE player on the field was still unbeaten in their league careers up until that game against the Jaguars. That brings that epic streak to an end at 36 games, with the unbeaten streak in regular-season league play easily the best in Horizon League history (33-0-3). It also snapped Milwaukee's winning streak in home games during regular-season play at 31 (29-0-2), dating back to a 1-0 loss to Iowa State in overtime on Sept. 11, 2016. Both streaks were the second-longest of their kind in the nation and it only adds to the recent resume, joining the list with its overall unbeaten streak (at a Horizon League and school-record total of 27 [23-0-4]) that came to an end in the early portion of the 2018 campaign.

GETTING IN ON THE FUN
Not only did Elaina LaMacchia record her 19th career shutout against Wright State Feb. 24 last season, but she did something no MKE goalkeeper had done in nearly 15 years. She recorded the first assist for a Milwaukee keeper since Erin Kane in 2006 late in the match, when her goal kick was flicked downfield by a header from Haley Steel. The pass created a one-on-one opportunity for Natalie Auble, who netted her second goal of the season to cap the scoring at the 79:30 mark.

A THRILL FOR SCHILL
Mackenzie Schill was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week (for the second time in her career) following her two-goal effort against Robert Morris Feb. 3 of last season. Schill got the Panthers started off on the right foot against RMU, notching her first goal of the season just 6:19 into the campaign to jumpstart what was a run of four goals in the first 18:22 for Milwaukee. She also scored again to make it 3-0 on the way to the 5-1 win. Schill ended the afternoon with a team-high five shots, including four on goal. It's the first multi-goal effort in an MKE season opener since Sarah Hagen scored twice in the 3-2 victory over Michigan State to open the 2011 campaign.

NOT TOO SHABBY
When it comes to Horizon League openers, the record is quite impressive all-time. Milwaukee has gone 24-2-1 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 eight as well, following the win over RMU.

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 five seasons as well as 19 of the past 20 titles overall. In fact, under the watch of Troy Fabiano, the team posted a sparkling 40-1-4 ledger over the past five campaigns (coming into 2020-21) in regular-season conference play.

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked by league coaches to again take first in the upcoming Horizon League regular season, according to the results of the preseason poll announced today by the league office. The Panthers tallied nine first-place votes and 130 points in the coaches' poll to claim the No. 1 spot. Northern Kentucky came in second, earning 120 points (one first-place vote), while Oakland also picked up one of the other two remaining first-place votes and accumulated 112 points in third.
 
The Panthers have now landed in the top spot in the preseason poll each of the last five seasons; part of a total of 19 times overall since 2000 (as well as an amazing run of 13 straight from 2000-2012).

2021 PRESEASON POLL
1. Milwaukee – 130 (9)
2. Northern Kentucky – 120 (1)
3. Oakland – 112 (1)
4. UIC – 111
5. IUPUI – 104
6. Cleveland State – 91
7. Wright State – 73
8. Youngstown State – 46 (1)
9. Green Bay – 44
10. Purdue Fort Wayne – 42
11. Detroit Mercy – 41
12. RMU – 22

SETTING THE BAR
Troy Fabiano became the first-ever Horizon League field boss to be named Coach of the Year five times in a row (Notre Dame's Chris Petricelli was the only other to reach four straight from 1991 to 1994). Fabiano helped his team to its fifth straight Horizon League regular-season crown in 2019 and has now gone 47-2-4 in his six seasons in conference – as well as a near-unbeaten 31-1-3 the past three campaigns. Not only that, but his 82 victories are easily the most wins over the first six years of any coach in program history.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSE
Back-line defender Gaby Schwartz enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign on the offensive side of the ball, finishing in fifth place in the Horizon League with 21 points (6G/9A), while her assists total led the conference and finished in the top 30 in the nation. It was 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. She produced in the same fashion in 2020, with her eight assists once again leading the Horizon League.

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 28 games that ended 1-0 (either way). Their record? An impressive 22-6 in those pressure-packed outings.

JUST WIN BABY
The Panthers closed the 2019 campaign on an impressive streak, posting 15 consecutive games without a loss prior to the NCAA Tournament (the 14-0-1 marked the second-best unbeaten stretch in program history) - with eight of the final nine decisions in that span via the shutout. The team also recorded 11 straight wins for just the second time in program history against IUPUI Oct. 23. The school record of 11 consecutive victories was accomplished in 2006 when the team finished 16-4-2. In addition to 2019, Milwaukee also won 10 in a row in the 2009 and 2017 campaigns.

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 IN ACTION
Milwaukee women's soccer will be available for the viewing pleasure of MKE fans this season, as seven of the 12 home games are scheduled to be streamed live on ESPN+ (subject to change due to weather and location). 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 season, 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 $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App. MKE games that are not scheduled to appear on ESPN+ will have an audio stream available (for free) on the team's schedule page.

ON TAP
The Panthers remain at home, hosting Eastern Kentucky August 27. The game is set to get underway at 7 p.m.