MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's soccer team posted its second-straight game of six goals to open the season – highlighted today by two each from Mackenzie Schill and Lesley Kiesling – to blank Western Illinois by a final score of 6-0 Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
Schill got the Panthers (2-0) on the board early, netting the eventual winner against the Leathernecks (0-2) in the fifth minute. She scored again in the 15^th and it was all Milwaukee from there.
 
"We talked about having a quick start," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "I think confidence from the first game helped that. We wanted to come out buzzing a little bit – they did – and we got good numbers in again. You look at the weekend … 2-0, outscored opponents 12-0 … it's a great start."
 
Kiesling came on as a sub in the 29^th minute and put on a show until the break, blasting home an opportunity on a two-on-one break in the 31^st minute before sneaking in her own rebound of a corner kick to make it 4-0 at the 35:20 mark. She hit the intermission with five shots (all on goal), scoring twice in just 16 minutes.
 
Milwaukee again dominated the scoresheet, finishing with advantages of 26-to-10 in shots, 18-to-2 in shots on goal, and 7-to-3 in corner kicks on the day.
 
WIU settled the match down at intermission, keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard until late.
 
"I thought in the second half, we learned a little bit about ourselves," Fabiano said. "I thought Western did a better job of keeping the ball then we did. But in the same sense, we kept them in front of us and created chances that were dangerous and put them away. Like I told the ladies, score 12 goals, win both at home, get out of here injury-free – it's a great way to start the season."
 
It was Trudy Quidzinski to make it 5-0, scoring her first goal as a Panther just 22 seconds after subbing into the game. She finished a combo of passes from Emma Famulak and Clara Broecker at the 80:31 mark.
 
Brooke Parnello than closed out the scoring at the 89:36 mark, following her game-one script of a thundering goal off the crossbar and in, again assisted by Lainey Higgins for the second straight game.
 
Natalie Auble added a pair of assists, finding Schill on the centering pass for her second goal as well as finding Kiesling for her first. Gaby Schwartz also had two assists, starting the play from the back for the opening goal, while coming through with the quality corner kick for Kiesling's second strike.
 
A total of 24 Panthers saw the field, including 20 that played 20-plus minutes. Schill (6 shots/5 on goal) and Kiesling (6 shots/all on goal) paced the offense, while Rachel Phillpotts and Maggy Henschler were also credited with assists on the afternoon. In goal, Elaina LaMacchia (2 saves in 68:57) and Allie Strottman (final 21:03 scoreless) posted their second-consecutive shared shutout.
 
The Panthers remain at home, hosting Eastern Kentucky August 27. The game is set to get underway at 7 p.m.