Following a very challenging opening weekend against an unbeaten Elon team and a Duke squad that is now in the Top 10 in all national polls, the Milwaukee men's soccer team is set for its home opener as well as the first of three Cup games of the fall.

The Panthers welcome Wisconsin to Engelmann Stadium for the home opener Thursday before wrapping up the holiday weekend Monday evening at Northern Illinois, as the two teams battle for the LeWang Cup.

Both contests will be streamed live and have live statistics available. Matt Menzl will be on the call on ESPN+ against Wisconsin Thursday night, set for a 7 p.m. kickoff with all UWM students invited to the "Panther Soccer Tailgate" in partnership with Student Involvement's Campus Activities Board. The tailgate event features pregame tailgate activities, a DJ, and MKE men's and women's basketball grilling hot dogs presented by Major Goolsby's for the students. Palermo's is also sponsoring a pizza slice giveaway. The event starts at 6 p.m.

Monday's contest will be available on NIU All-Access and also starts at 7 p.m. All links are available on the MKE website.

The in-state series with the Badgers dates back to 1974, with the Panthers trailing by a slim 17-20-9 ledger. Wisconsin has had the upper hand of late, claiming wins in nine of the last 14 (5-1-3 mark the past nine). However, Milwaukee did come out on top in a recent affair, a 1-0 victory in October of 2019 on a goal by Vuk Latinovich. The series has certainly not as one-sided as the record appears - four of the losses since 2009 have been 1-0 defeats and three others have resulted in double-overtime draws - including a 1-1 affair in Madison in Fall of 2018.

The Panthers lead the all-time series against Northern Illinois by a count of 23-19-5. Following three MKE victories in a row in the series from 2011 through 2013, Milwaukee kept possession of the LeWang Cup in 2014 with a 2-2 draw at home and again in 2015 with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory on the road. Prior to 2019, the cup had changed hands in four straight years - all on one-goal decisions. NIU retained the trophy in 2019 with a 1-0 win in overtime and has won three in a row.

It will mark the 48th showdown between the regional foes and former Midwestern Collegiate Conference rivals. The winner of the match claims the John LeWang Cup, which is named after the former NIU coach who was killed in a car accident prior to the 1981 season. LeWang came to NIU as head coach in 1980 following his time as an assistant at Milwaukee and died in a car accident after his first season leading the Huskies. Since 1981, the two teams have played for the trophy named in his honor.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
WISCONSIN: The Badgers went 7-7-3 a year ago, which included a 3-4-1 mark in Big Ten play. A total of 10 newcomers will mix with 15 returners to make up the Badgers' roster for 2022. So far this season, the team has played just once and is 1-0 after an impressive 5-0 victory over Utah Tech and a "no contest" against No. 11 Tulsa, a game they led 3-0 before lightning brought it to an end before it could reach official status.

New head coach Neil Jones leads the Badgers into the season as the seventh head coach in Wisconsin men's soccer history. Jones came to Madison this winter from Loyola Chicago, where he spent nine seasons and led the Ramblers to a pair of Missouri Valley Conference championships and the program's first NCAA tournament victory.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies went 15-3-2 last year, tying the school record for wins while claiming the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament championships, a first for the program since 2006. NIU made its fourth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the second round for the third time, and finished the season ranked 21st in the United Soccer Coaches final national poll. Northern Illinois returns seven starters from a season ago, including Enrique Banuelos, the leading returning scorer for the Huskies (13 points on 3G/7A). The squad also returns goalkeeper Martin Sanchez, who tied for 12th in the nation a season ago with eight shutouts and posted a 1.02 goals-against average. The team is 1-1 so far this fall, falling 3-2 at San Francisco in addition to claiming a 2-1 victory over St. Mary's (Calif.).

NIFTY FIFTY
The Milwaukee men's soccer program is celebrating its 50th season in program history in 2022, all of which have been played at the NCAA Division I level. The Panthers have had 418 different student-athletes suit up in the Black & Gold, listed alphabetically from Mosa Abu-Khader (1982-83) to Jerry Zuba (1974). The program has collected over 500 victories (509 heading into 2022) during its tenure and participated in the NCAA tournament on 10 occasions, most recently following the 2020 campaign. MKE has claimed five regular-season league titles in Horizon League and Midwestern Collegiate Conference action and earned six conference tournament titles. Individual success includes 209 all-conference honorees, 59 all-region selections, and 14 All-America accolades.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 27-18-5 all-time in season openers following a 2-0 loss to Elon Aug. 26 to open 2022. Head coach Kris Kelderman now has 12 season openers on his resume at the NCAA Division I collegiate level, going 10-2-0. 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.

RIGHT IN THE MIX
Milwaukee was picked by league coaches to finish third in the preseason poll. The Panthers tallied 81 points and did record a first-place vote in the coaches' poll to hold down the third spot, not far off of the 93-point total of Oakland, who topped the list and received six first-place votes. The top tier of teams also included Cleveland State in second, who registered 90 points and a pair of first-place votes.

The next tier of teams saw Wright State in fourth place with 68 points (also a first-place vote), followed by Detroit Mercy in fifth with 56. The next grouping consisted of Northern Kentucky (sixth/42) and Robert Morris (seventh/37). The poll was rounded out by Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne tied for ninth (32) and IUPUI in 10th with 19 points.

2022 #HLMSOC Preseason Poll
Pl.  Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1. Oakland (6) – 93
2. Cleveland State (2) – 90
3. Milwaukee (1) – 81
4. Wright State (1) – 68
5. Detroit Mercy – 56
6. Northern Kentucky – 42
7. RMU – 37
T8. Green Bay – 32
T8. Purdue Fort Wayne – 32
10. IUPUI – 19

FARR-ING WELL
Sophomore Logan Farrington was one of just two players to finish in the top four in the Horizon League in the following three categories for the 2021 season: points, goals, and assists. Farrington put together another stellar campaign, capped by a repeat spot on the Horizon League First-Team All-Conference squad. He led the team in scoring (23 points), goals (8), assists (7), total shots (58), shots on target (22), and game-winning goals (4). On the charts, his totals ranked among Horizon League leaders in numerous categories: he finished fourth in points scored, third in assists, fourth in goals, third in shots, sixth in shots on goal, and tied for second in game-winners. In addition, his numbers also ranked 48th in the NCAA in points, 62nd in goals, 53rrd in assists, and 31st in shots/game (3.22).

A TRIO ON THE TOP SQUAD ... AGAIN!
Three members of the team were named First-Team All-Horizon League in 2021, as Logan Farrington, Paolo Gratton and Jake Kelderman all repeated as members of the First Team. A season after becoming the first trio of MKE teammates to earn first-team status in the same year since 2003, Kelderman, Gratton, and Farrington did it again just seven month later. For Kelderman, it marks the fourth honor of his career, adding to the second-team accolades he won in 2019 and All-Freshman status in 2017. In all, seven different players picked up postseason honors with Adi Vaknin, Gabe Anguil, Hugo Espejo, and Phillip Reiwerts all being selected to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

SQUID IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN
Graduate student Shawn Azcueta is welcomed to the roster in 2022 for his extra season of COVID eligibility and will be the only player on the team to be listed above junior-class status. He's been a steady presence since stepping on campus in 2018, and leads all returners in games played (63) and starts (49) for career number totals. Farrington leads in career points (37) and goals (13), while Josh Kidder paces the roster in career assists with 19. Outside of Azcueta's 63 career games, the next on the list (heading into 2022) are Abdu Regassa (49/35 starts), Josh Kidder (44/28 starts), and Kasper Davidsson (33/30 starts).

FARR AND AWAY THE LATE WINNER
Logan Farrington helped carry the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in the 2021 regular-season finale, helping Milwaukee earn the No. 3 seed in the postseason with some late-game heroics. Down 1-0 with the clock winding down, he set up Paolo Gratton for the equalizer against the Mastodons in the 82nd minute and then sealed the deal with the winner with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation. Farrington leads the team in points (23), goals (8), and assists (7) and is the only league player to rank in the Top 4 in each category.

REGASSA RECHARGE
Abdu Regassa picked a great time to shine against Northern Kentucky Oct. 23 of last season, scoring a pair of goals for his first career brace. Even more impressive, coming into play against NKU, Regassa had netted two goals in 43 career games as a Panther before finding the back of the net twice in a span of 27 minutes to help MKE to the huge 3-1 comeback win. For his efforts, he was named Horizon League Player of the Week.

In addition, Gijs Van Schouten gave the Panthers a pair of weekly winners, earning Defensive Player of the Week accolades after a triumphant return to the starting lineup. He posted seven saves, with two of them near-identical in leaving his feet to get just enough of attempts in the 62nd and 89th minutes to knock them over the bar and out of harm's way.

OFFENSIVE BARRAGE
The Panthers netted a season-high total for goals in their 4-1 victory over IUPUI Oct. 2 last fall and the charge was led by Logan Farrington. His efforts resulted in playing a role in each score, netting a pair of goals while also recording a pair of assists. That gave him a career-best six points against the Jaguars - the highest single-game scoring effort for the Panthers since Aaron Horvat had eight points (four goals) against Detroit Mercy in September of 2013. He added two more goals his next outing against Western Illinois, giving him the fourth brace of his young career, over his first 23 college games. It also gave him back-to-back multi-goal outings - something done only one other time since 2004 - when Paolo Gratton accomplished the feat during the 2020 campaign (against Oakland and IUPUI). Prior to that, the last to do so was Antou Jallow in 2004. Farrington is also ranked No. 66 on the "Top 100 Freshmen" this season by Top Drawer Soccer.

DOUBLE-VISION
Logan Farrington not only netted a pair of goals against Western Illinois Oct. 5, but he did it in a flash, coming just 1:50 apart on the clock (55:46 and 57:36). That marked the fastest goals by the same MKE player since Edison Crespo found the back of the net at the 87:24 and 88:34 marks (just 1:10) in a 4-2 victory over Marquette to open the 2010 schedule.

The pair of goals came after Adi Vaknin had tied the contest at the 54:30 mark, giving the Panthers a total of three goals in a span of just 3:06 on the scoreboard - the quickest trio in at least 25 years of Panther soccer.

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. Jake Kelderman scored the only goal just 91 seconds into the 1-0 victory earlier this fall and David Cox was the hero in 2020's version, netting the game-winner with 36 seconds left in regulation.

The Chancellor's Cup, which originally began as a tournament of Wisconsin state schools in the 1980's, continues to be given to the winner in the annual Milwaukee/Green Bay game. As an extra storyline, Kris Kelderman spent the 2011 season as the head coach at Green Bay.

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. Seven of the past 12 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. Eight 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.

SAVING THE DAY
Gijs Van Schouten was brilliant in leading Milwaukee to a 2-1 victory over UIC in the Horizon League opener Sept. 11, finishing the evening with 12 saves. The total marked the most for a Panther since 2011. It was also the 10th-most in a game in program history and the third-most for a freshman GK all-time in school history. Four of them came over the final 15 minutes of regulation as Van Schouten was up to the task to finish out the one-goal decision. The 12-save total has now been accomplished four times, most recently by Ryan Germann against Wright State in October, 2008. The only other totals higher by an MKE freshman include 14 by Josh Rohde (10/4/11) and 24 by John Fetzer (11/11/73).

FROM ZERO TO 100
Following injury, Kasper Davidsson made his first appearance of the 2021 campaign against UIC Sept. 11. He didn't wait long to make it a memorable debut, scoring the eventual game-winner at the 61:09 mark, just 2:27 after subbing in. He followed that up with a defensive highlight, coming up with a key team save in the 85th minute to preserve the victory.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 24-11-3 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference following the 2-1 victory over UIC. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 5-4-2 in his 11 seasons, with the team also knocking off Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2, last year.

DANDY DEBUT
Gijs Van Schouten posted a victory 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.

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 in 2019 when scoring two or more goals. That brings the five-plus year tally (also counting the 2021 campaign) to 45-5-6 (.857) 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 48-22-12 (.658) 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 $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.

ON TAP
Up next, the Panthers are again at home, hosting Drake Friday with a match set to start at 7 p.m.