MILWAUKEE – An early goal set the tone for the day and the Milwaukee women's soccer team would add one more before intermission to claim a 2-0 victory over Illinois State Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (5-0) remain perfect on the season with the shutout of the Redbirds (1-5), running their season tally to 23 goals scored while still not allowing a single goal through five games.
 
"We talked about having a quicker start and again, today was another way to find a way to win," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "We weren't clean and we weren't really sharp with our movement of the ball."
 
It was Jelena Sever yet again to open the scoring, netting her fourth game-winning goal of the campaign – tied for the most in the NCAA – in just the eighth minute.
 
Milwaukee would add another goal before halftime, with Kayla Rollins netting the first of her collegiate career at the 40:53 mark. That would be all they needed despite a quiet second half.
 
"Any time you can get an early goal you get that momentum," Fabiano said. "I just wish we could have created more chances and put some more opportunities away. In the second half, we wanted possession to be meaningful and create chances and I felt like they did a good job of keeping us in front of them."
 
Elaina LaMacchia came through with her third solo shutout of the campaign, marking the 26^th clean sheet of her MKE career. She enjoyed a solid performance, credited with four more saves today to keep her season GAA at 0.00 through 403:12 of action.
 
Both goals again came off set pieces, with the first started on a Gaby Schwartz free kick. Her ball found the back post where Rachel Phillpotts redirected, only to see her shot saved. The ball came back into play for Sever, who did the rest at the 7:54 mark to make it 1-0.
 
The assist for Schwartz was her seventh of the season, now leading the NCAA in that category.
 
The second goal came off a corner kick from Emma Famulak, but not before LaMacchia made an incredible save in the 25^th minute to keep it 1-0 with a sprawling reach to knock a Redbird shot out of the top corner.
 
Phillpotts again put a head to it off the Famulak corner, nearly getting the goal herself. It was popped off the backline by an IUS defender, with Rollins ready to pounce to double the advantage.
 
The Panthers spent the rest of the day looking for a third goal that would never come, despite 11 more second-half shot attempts. The best chance came late, with Lesley Kiesling denied an 85^th-minute strike with a brilliant save by Priya Gillan, one of her nine saves on the afternoon.
 
For the day, MKE ended with advantage of 20-to-10 in shots, 12-to-4 in shots on goal, 9-to-2 in corner kicks, while also controlling possession for 59 percent of the match. Sever paced the offense with five shots (three on goal), while Phillpotts and Brooke Parnello each had three. Phillpotts recorded an assist on both goals on the afternoon.
 
Up next, it's a big one for the Panthers, welcoming Wisconsin to Engelmann Stadium Thursday. Game time against the Badgers, who are 3-1-1 but do play yet Sunday evening, is set for 7 p.m.