With a 1-0 start under its belt, the Milwaukee men's soccer team will hit the road for its next game. Following a match that was cancelled after a long weather delay Monday at Eastern Illinois, the Panthers travel to Indiana to take on former Horizon League foe Butler on Friday evening. After one week of competition, the team is ranked sixth in the initial North Region United Soccer Coaches Poll and receiving votes in the College Soccer News National Top 30 Poll.

The contest will be streamed live on Butler's YouTube page and will also have live statistics available. All links are available on the MKE website.

As former conference rivals, the Panthers and Bulldogs have played a total of 28 times dating back to 1992 (16-11-1 MKE), but this does mark the first meeting since Butler left the Horizon League back in 2011. The last meeting was a 3-1 victory for MKE back in September of 2011. That snapped what was a strong run for the Bulldogs, snapping what was a three-game slide and a stretch where BU went 4-1 in five games.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
BUTLER: The Bulldogs went 4-6-2 in the COVID-shortened spring campaign and return 10 of 11 starters, including 2020-21 All-Big East selections Wilmer Cabrera, Jr., Rhys Myers, and Jack Haywood. The roster features ten newcomers, and its student-athletes hail from ten different states and an additional six different countries. Head coach Paul Snape enters his 11th season at the helm of the Bulldogs program.

The team was pegged for seventh in the 2021 Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll, with Cabrera Jr. and Myers voted to the Preseason All-Big East Team. The Bulldogs are off to an 0-1-1 start, falling to No. 1 Indiana by a score of just 1-0 after drawing with Oakland in the opener, 0-0. Cabrera Jr. leads the way with six shot attempts, while Gabriel Gjergji has played all 200 minutes, posting a 0.45 goals-against average and .833 save percentage through the two matches.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 27-17-5 all-time in season openers following a 2-1 victory over Drake Aug. 26 to open 2021. Head coach Kris Kelderman now has 11 season openers on his resume at the NCAA Division I collegiate level, going 10-1-0. In addition to the wins over Purdue Fort Wayne (2020), WIU (2017-2019), Eastern Illinois (2016), Evansville (2015), DePaul (2014) and a nationally-ranked Marquette squad (2013), his Green Bay squad topped SIU Edwardsville, 1-0, in 2011.

AN IMPRESSIVE LIST
Paolo Gratton was named to the 2021 Men's Soccer Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List. The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the nation's National Player of the Year. Division I coaches who are members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services program vote for the award. Gratton put together a breakout 2020 campaign, earning United Soccer Coaches All-North Region First Team and Horizon League First-Team All-Conference accolades in a season in which he scored 22 points. He led the Horizon League with 11 goals - a total that ranked fourth in the NCAA. In addition, Gratton was also ranked as the No. 53 player on the preseason men's NCAA Division I Top 100 list put out by Top Drawer Soccer.

GOAL!
Freshman Adi Vaknin scored a big goal for the Panthers, netting the game-winner against Drake Aug. 26. In doing so, he became the 10th freshman since 2000 to score in the season opener, joining Antou Jallow (2001), Adam Skalecki (2005), Edison Crespo (2010), Declan Rodriguez (2012), Petter Ingebrigtsen (2014), Matthias Binder (2015), Francesco Saporito (2015), Henrik Fennefoss (2017), and Logan Farrington (2020) on that list.

DANDY DEBUT
Gijs Van Schouten posted a shutout in his collegiate debut, becoming the fifth freshman to start a season opener in net since 2000 (and first since Freddy Lorenzen in 2017). He made six saves to help the Panthers overcome a 1-0 deficit and claim a 2-1 victory over Drake Aug. 26. The only goal he allowed came on a penalty kick and he made two of his saves in succession just after MKE had gone ahead and preserved the one-goal advantage.

2021 EXHIBITION REWIND
Milwaukee went 1-1-1 in its three exhibition matches, falling to DePaul (2-1, goal by Adi Vaknin), drawing with Loyola Chicago (1-1, goal by Gabe Anguil), before closing things out with a 4-0 victory over Parkside. Logan Farrington led the way against the Rangers, recording the hat trick with Andreas Soerensen adding the final tally.

RECAPPING THE 2020 SPRING NCAA TRIP
Milwaukee made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013 and 10th in the history of the program (1979, 1980, 1990, 2001-05, 2013, 2020) this past spring, ending the season receiving votes in the final College Soccer News national poll. The Panthers claimed an automatic bid courtesy of their 1-0 victory in the Horizon League Tournament Championship. Milwaukee is now 4-9-1 all-time in its 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and are 4-6 in their last six NCAA Tournament berths, with most of those appearances coming over a four-year span of 2002-05. The program's 10 NCAA Tournament appearances overall are tops among all Horizon League schools.

The Panthers rose to the occasion during the adversity-filled spring campaign, winning each of their final three regular-season matches to reach the postseason as the No. 4 seed. From there, the squad topped No. 2 UIC on the road, 2-1, and then knocked off nationally-ranked Northern Kentucky in the title game on its home field. The Panthers topped the Norse - ranked #22 at the time - by a final score of 1-0 to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Three players were named National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Region, with the team finishing 8-5 overall.

GREAT THINGS FOR GRATTON
Paolo Gratton put together a breakout 2020 campaign, earning United Soccer Coaches All-North Region First Team and Horizon League First-Team All-Conference accolades in a season in which he scored 22 points, leading the Horizon League with 11 goals - a total that ranked fourth in the NCAA this season.  In netting his 10th goal against UIC in the semifinals, he became the first MKE player to reach double-figures in goals since Laurie Bell recorded 13 goals back in 2013. Gratton has also scored a goal in six consecutive games coming into play in the NCAA Tournament - a streak not seen since Antou Jallow found the back of the net in each of the final seven outings of 2002 (posting 14G/4A).

After scoring in the Horizon League Tournament Championship in the final game of 2019, Gratton carried that momentum into the spring campaign. He stayed strong on offense, establishing career-highs (by week 4) in all categories with his 22 points and 42 shot attempts. In addition to tying for first in the Horizon League in points, he also placed second in both total shots (42) and shots on goal (21), and first in game-winning goals (2)

HE IS FARR-OUT
Logan Farrington enjoyed one of the more impressive freshman campaigns in program history, capped off with Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors (just the second in program history). He was also selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region Second Team and as a member of the Horizon League First-Team and All-Freshmen squads and became first MKE freshman to earn all-region or first-team all-league status since Tony Sanneh in 1990. Logan started all 13 games on the spring, finishing with 14 points on five goals and four assists. He led the Horizon League with 55 shots and 22 shots on goal, with those numbers also ranking high nationally, finishing fourth in the NCAA in shots per game (4.23/leader was 4.5) and 17th in shots on-goal per game (1.69). He joined Gratton with the first pair of multi-goal matches in the same season since Declan Rodriguez in 2015. He was also the first Panther freshman to pick up HL weekly honors since goalkeeper Freddy Lorenzen in 2017.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
A unique situation will take place for the final time this fall for the Milwaukee men's soccer team. Kris Kelderman will get the chance to again be the head coach for his son, Jake, for a fifth - and final - straight campaign (Jake redshirted in 2016).

A TRIO ON THE TOP SQUAD
Three members of the team were named First-Team All-Horizon League – highlighted by Logan Farrington earning Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors – when the league office announced the all-league teams and specialty award winners. Farrington was joined on the first-team by Paolo Gratton and Jake Kelderman. Farrington also picked up a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshmen Team, where he was joined by fellow newcomer Raul Medina. It's the first time MKE MSOC has had a trio of players on the first team since 2003. Farrington joins Evan Conway (2016) as the only Panthers to be honored as league freshmen of the year.

MAKING GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN THREE'S
Josh Kidder continued to bring his playmaking skills to the field in 2020, finishing second in the Horizon League (and tied for fourth in the NCAA) with his nine assists. His outing April 5 against Robert Morris was no different. He finished the afternoon with three assists, setting up each of the first three strikes in the 4-0 victory. Kidder is the second Panther to record three assists in a game this season, joining Raul Medina who accomplished the feat against IUPUI March 24 (after not having been done since Dale Weiler did so against Marquette in October 2004). The trio of helpers ties for fifth-best in a game in program history and gives him nine on the season, good for a career-high (he had seven as a freshman in 2019) and currently second in the Horizon League as well as fourth in the nation. He nearly became the first MKE player with 10 assists in a season since Craig Mallace had 10 in 2005.

CHANCELLOR'S CUP DRAMA
The battle for the Chancellor's Cup has seen some thrillers over the years, but if it feels like the drama and intensity has been higher lately, you would be correct. David Cox was the hero in 2020's version, netting the game-winner with 36 seconds left in regulations.

It happened again in 2018, with Sean Holmes golden goal coming in the 99th minute. The year prior, MKE tied the game with just eight seconds remaining in regulation on a goal by Jonathan Stadler to force overtime before falling. And again in 2016, when Milwaukee reclaimed the Cup with a thrilling 1-0 victory Oct. 22 on a goal by Magnus Flaatedal. Eight of the past 10 occasions these two teams have now played, the game has gone into overtime (5 of 7 into double-overtime), with five of the seven ending in victories for one team or the other. Seven years ago it was an own goal that won it for Green Bay, snapping Milwaukee's 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) to start the 2013 season. The 2012 version ended in a draw but the 2011 edition provided one of the most memorable finishes to a game in program history, with Cody Banks netting the winner at the 109:53 mark.

MEDINA MAGIC
Raul Medina has made a solid first impression with the Panthers, earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshmen team after the newcomer finished with 14 points (4G/6A). He made 11 starts in 12 appearances, finishing with 16 shot attempts. Medina tied for seventh in the Horizon League and second on the team in points (14 was most for any freshman), was fourth in assists, ninth in goals and tied for first in game-winning goals (2). He played the hero role in the overtime win at Detroit Mercy and converted a PK against Wright State that stood up as the game-winner. That made him the fourth player to record back-to-back game winners since Kris Kelderman took over as head coach before the 2012 campaign. He joins Evan Conway (2019 vs. Eastern Illinois and Valparaiso), Robbie Boyd (2013 vs. DePaul and IUPUI), and Laurie Bell (2012 vs. IUPUI and Eastern Illinois). Medina also put his talent to work against IUPUI March 24, assisting three of the four goals in the 4-0 win. Medina's three assists tied for the fifth-most in a game in program history, marking the first time since 2004 that the feat was accomplished. That season, Dale Weiler notched three helpers against Marquette in late October, setting up each strike in a 3-1 victory.

POLLING PLACE
The United Soccer Coaches released their first set of national and regional polls for the spring 2021 slate March 2. Milwaukee had made a quick first impression, landing at No. 10 in the opening North Region poll.

CHIAPPA THE KEY
Nick Chiappa was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week Feb. 26 after his work in the 1-0 overtime victory over Detroit Mercy. He picked up the first league honor as a Panther after making four saves to record the clean sheet, the second of his career. One of his four saves came in the 90th minute to get the match to the extra session. Raul Medina then came up big, scoring the golden goal in the 92nd minute.

EYE OPENER
Freshman Logan Farrington made quite the first impression with his outing against Purdue Fort Wayne in the 2020 season opener. He scored twice, netting the first goal of the game at the 15:09 mark while also accounting for what stood up as the game-winner when he made it 3-0 at the 57:35 mark. The brace in the 3-2 victory marked a first for an MKE freshman in a season opener since Edison Crespo did the same in the 2010 opener. It also marked just the third time in program history the feat has been recorded (Dan Day actually had three back in 1984).

STEADY DOSE OF OFFENSE
Farrington did set some history while he played all 90 minutes against the Mastodons Feb. 4, as his nine shots are the most-ever for a Panther freshman debut outing. To compare to the other multi-goal debuts mentioned above, Crespo pulled off the task in stunning fashion, playing just 13 minutes and scoring in the 88th and 89th minutes (four total shots) of a 4-2 win to secure the "Milwaukee Cup" against Marquette.

Day's day in 1984 consisted of six shots and included an assist. Farrington finished just one shot away from what would have been the third double-figure shot outing since 2006. Vuk Latinovich had 11 shot attempts against IUPUI in 2019, while Steve Sperl had 10 against Cleveland State in October of 2006.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 23-11-3 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference following the 3-2 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne this spring. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 4-4-2 in his 10 seasons, with the team also knocking off Oakland in overtime, 1-0, three years ago.

GETTING TO TWO
The Milwaukee defense was stingy in 2019, producing eight shutouts which was good for second in the league. The team goals-against average of 1.00 was also good for the top spot. Offensively, once the team found a second goal, the Panthers continue to be very tough to beat. The squad went 6-1-0 in 2020 and 10-0-1 when scoring two or more goals. That brings the five-plus year tally (also counting the 2021 campaign) to 39-4-6 when finding the back of the net at least twice in a match.

NOW THIS IS HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
When it comes to home field advantage, the Panthers have historically ranked right up there with the best in the business. From 2001 through 2006, Milwaukee turned Engelmann Stadium into a place visiting teams did not want to see on their schedule, going 49-8-2 in that time. After a few down seasons by MKE standards, the magic is getting brought back - the Panthers have compiled a record of 45-20-12 (.662) at home in Kris Kelderman's nine-plus years as the head coach.

CATCH THEM IN ACTION
Milwaukee men's soccer will be available for the viewing pleasure of MKE fans this season, as five of the eight 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 are back at home to open Horizon League action, welcoming UIC to Engelmann Stadium Sept. 11.