Following an unbeaten start to the 2023 schedule that featured games against a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, the Milwaukee women's soccer team makes its home debut this week when it co-hosts the "Challenge Cup" with Marquette Thursday and Sunday. The start to the season was also noted nationally, with the team picking up a vote in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.

The Panthers and Golden Eagles welcome Minnesota and Denver to town, with both visiting teams set to play alternate games at Engelmann Stadium and Valley Fields. Up first for Milwaukee is the Golden Gophers, set to battle Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium with a 7 p.m. kickoff. The match pits two teams who appear in the United Soccer Coaches North Region Poll as well, with MKE checking in at No. 6 and MINN at No. 9. Then, on Sunday, play wraps up against the Pioneers in a match scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m., the first of a women's/men's doubleheader for the Milwaukee soccer programs. Matt Menzl makes his 2023 debut on the ESPN+ broadcasts, which will be available for both contests. Each game will also have live statistics for fans to follow along. All links are on the Milwaukee website for both contests.

Milwaukee is 3-6-2 all-time against Minnesota and the teams will be playing for the first time since the 2011 campaign. That season, the Panthers recorded a 1-0 road victory over the Gophers in a September game that gave them the event title in the Minnesota Gold Classic. That result gives MKE a 2-1-1 record over its past four against Minnesota.

Milwaukee and Denver will be meeting for the first time in program history on Sunday, which is also "Alumni Day" for the program.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS:
MINNESOTA: The Golden Gophers went 8-8-3 a year ago, also posting an even 4-4-2 mark in the Big Ten. Head coach Erin Chastain and her staff welcome eight freshmen and four transfer students to the roster. Included in the class are a Minnesota Miss Soccer winner (Paige Kalal), the 2023 Minnesota Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year (Taylor Heimerl), the 2021 Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year (Cam Xu), and two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year (Megan Nemec). Minnesota returns a majority of its offensive production from last season in Sophia Boman (leading scorer with 16 points on 5G/6A), Sophia Romine (third with 13 on 5G/3A), Izzy Brown (4G/1A=9 pts), Khyah Harper (1G/4A=6 pts), and Christa VanLoon (2G/1A=5 pts). Defensively, the Maroon and Gold have Elizabeth Overberg and Abi Frandsen in the back along with Megan Plaschko between the pipes. Plaschko played every minute in net in 2023 (all 1,710) and recorded a 1.00 GAA, .725 save percentage, and six clean sheets in her 19 appearances. The team is off to a 2-0 start, topping Niagara (W, 5-1) and New Hampshire (W, 4-0) at home. Megan Nemac (3G) and Boman (2G/2A) lead the offense with six points and Plaschko has a 0.54 GAA but has only been called on to make one save in 166:19 of action.

DENVER: The Pioneers are coming off an 11-4-4 season a year ago, going 8-0-1 in conference to win the Summit League regular-season title before falling to Oral Roberts in PK's in the tournament championship. The Pioneers topped the league preseason poll for the seventh year in a row and come into 2023 as five-time defending regular-season champions. Additionally, Hannah Gallegos and Kaitlyn Glover were named 2023 Summit League Players to Watch.

Julianne Sitch, who guided the University of Chicago to its first NCAA Soccer National Championship last season following a 22-0-1 campaign, was named the new DU head coach in the offseason. The team is off to a 0-0-2 start, recording draws against both Colorado State (1-1) and Colorado College (2-2) to open the season last week. Camryn MacMillan paces the offense with three points (1G/1A) and Molly Wissman has played all 180 minutes of the first two matches, posting a .667 save percentage and 1.50 goals-against average.

The Panthers are coming off yet another strong season, claiming the Horizon League regular-season and tournament titles in head coach Kevin Boyd's first season at the helm. The regular-season title is the seventh in the past eight years for MKE, a span that has seen the team go 64-3-6 in league play. In addition, the team has now won the regular-season title 21 times since 2000 (all but 2020 and 2014) and 22 total times overall. The Panthers also made their 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 15th with the Horizon League's automatic berth.

OFF WE GO
The Panthers opened the season with a 1-0-1 start after taking on two teams that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Milwaukee used a last-minute goal to get a great result at No. 3 Notre Dame Thursday, with Clara Broecker's strike from near midfield with regulation winding down helping to open the season in impressive fashion. That highlight helped her earn an honorable mention spot on the National Top Drawer Team of the Week named Monday. The Panthers then took care of business against an SIUE team that has won three straight OVC tournament titles, winning 3-1 after a pair of second-half goals. Kat Van Booven was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts, scoring a goal in each game for her second career league honor.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH
The first season for Kevin Boyd as the MKE head coach was an impressive one, despite taking over one of the youngest teams in the country that was returning just two starters and four upperclassmen to the lineup. After opening the campaign at 3-3-1, he led the squad to a 9-0-2 finish the rest of the way before nearly taking down sixth-ranked Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing 3-2 in double-overtime. The team claimed the Horizon League regular-season crown for the seventh time in the past eight seasons and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in program history.
 
Boyd brought over 20 years of head-coaching experience with him to Milwaukee, having spent two decades in the Pac-12 as head coach at both Arizona State University and at the University of California, Berkeley. No matter the stop, Boyd has been a proven winner, ranking as the all-time winningest coach during his final campaigns at both Pac-12 programs, while compiling over 200 victories in his career.

RANKINGS ROUND-UP
The Panthers took on a ranked opponent for the 49th time in program history when they battled the #3 Fighting Irish Aug. 17. Overall, Milwaukee is now 4-38-7 against ranked foes, most recently playing a contest against a ranked side last fall when it fell to #6 Michigan State in double-overtime in the NCAA Tournament. The team last recorded a victory in that situation against Xavier in 2021 (a 1-0 decision over a #14 Musketeer squad in the first round of the NCAA Tournament).

The game against the Irish marked the 15th contest against a Top-5 ranked opponent in school history, with the most recent being the NCAA Tournament matchup with #2 Virginia in 2021. The highest-ranked team MKE has ever knocked off was No. 8 Nebraska back in 1998 when the Panthers won, 2-1, in 2OT.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers did open 2021 against Northern Illinois with a 6-0 victory, moving to 15-15-4 in season openers at the NCAA Division I level after you also add in the 2-0 loss to a Wake Forest team receiving votes in the national poll in 2022 and No. 3 Notre Dame this season. The team has now gone 6-3-3 in season openers the past 12 years, with a 1-0 victory over Western Illinois in 2015 snapping a three-game stretch without a victory. Three seasons ago, MKE opened the campaign with a 5-1 victory over Robert Morris on the road. In addition, the Panthers enter Thursday 18-2 in home openers. Speaking of season debuts, the six goals against NIU in 2021 marked the most in program history for a lid-lifter, topping the five scored against Robert Morris to open the 2020 campaign. Four had not been scored in over 30 years (4-2 over St. Norbert in 1988 and 4-0 over St. Mary's (IN) in 1987), while three has also been recorded on four different occasions.

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked by league coaches to finish first in the 2023 Horizon League regular season. The Panthers tallied 10 first-place votes and 120 points in the coaches' poll to hold down the top spot, with the 93-point total of Oakland coming in second. A year ago the team was picked for second in the league poll – missing out on the top spot for the first time in six seasons. The team went on to claim the regular-season title and then the Horizon League Tournament championship for a fifth consecutive year while appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in program history. Back on top of the poll this fall marks a spot they have now held in the conference poll 20 times since 2000, as well as an amazing run of 13 straight from 2000-2012. Purdue Fort Wayne (85 points/third) and Youngstown State (84 points/fourth) wrapped up the nest tier, with the Penguins earning the other first-place vote.
 
2023 #HLWSOC Preseason Poll
Pl.        Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1.         Milwaukee (10) – 120
2.         Oakland – 93
3.         Purdue Fort Wayne – 85
4.         Youngstown State (1) – 84
5.         Cleveland State – 73
6.         IUPUI – 69
7.         Wright State – 65
8.         Northern Kentucky – 61
9.         Detroit Mercy – 40
10.        RMU – 19
11.        Green Bay – 17

AN IMPRESSIVE LIST TO TOP
Let's be honest, the Panthers have been very good since the start of the 2017 campaign. How good? Well, at 89-12-10 (.847), they actually have the BEST winning percentage in the nation over that span in NCAA play heading into 2023. The only one who had been higher is 2019 & 2017 NCAA National Champion Stanford, but they are now in second at 105-17-8 (.8384) over the same time frame, with 2022 National Champion UCLA close behind at 105-15-13 (.8383). No. 4 on that list is now North Carolina (112-19-9/.832), with Georgetown (8913-23/.804), and Duke (91-24-18/.752) to follow.

SETTING THE TONE
Milwaukee saw its long streak of picking up victories after getting on the board first come to a heartbreaking end following the NCAA Tournament contest against Michigan State that closed out the 2022 campaign (MKE was on the board first in the sixth minute). That ended an unbelievable stretch, falling in a game that they scored first in to snap what was an eye-opening 85-0 stretch when being the first team to find the back of the net in a game. That includes the 9-1 mark in 2022, 17-0 in 2021, 9-0 in 2020, 17-0 in 2019, 16-0 in 2018, and 14-0 in 2017. The last time the Panthers lost (or even TIED) a match in which they scored first was the 2016 Horizon League Tournament title game against Northern Kentucky (Nov. 5, 2016), a contest they led 2-0 early before falling, 3-2. They also went 74-2-9 when outshooting their opponent in that same span, getting outshot just 17 times over the six-plus year stretch.

RANKED ONE OF THE BEST
The Soccer Wire website recently ranked the "Top 50 Current NCAA Women's Programs (2023 Edition)", with the list recognizing the highest-ranked women's college soccer programs in the United States over the past five full seasons. In that span, the Panthers have gone an amazing 80-10-9 overall (.854 winning percentage) as well as a near-perfect 42-1-5 (.927 win %) in regular-season Horizon League play. That earned MKE spot No. 39 on the list, ahead of the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Baylor, Kansas, LSU, Cal, and Arizona, as well as the only Horizon League school represented.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Panthers earned the Horizon League's automatic bid by posting a 1-0 shutout of Youngstown State on a day that will be remembered for the crazy weather as much as the championship. Haley Johnson scored the only goal - coming off a kick from near midfield - sending Milwaukee to the crown. They entered the NCAA Tournament on an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2), including wins in seven consecutive contests that wrapped up with a 3-1 victory over IUPUI in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals and a 1-0 shutout over YSU in the title game, led by the only goal of the contest scored by Johnson, who was named the League Tournament Most Valuable Player.
 
RECINOS MAKING THE MOST OF IT
Stephanie Recinos certainly made the most of her opportunities last season, as she finished fifth on the team in points with eight, coming on the strength of three goals and a pair of assists. The part of this that makes it so impressive is that she has appeared in just 11 games and only played 145 total minutes on the season. In addition, two of her three goals were game-winners, providing the difference against Robert Morris Sept. 18 and Cleveland State Sept. 22.

HIGGINS HIGHLIGHTS
Lainey Higgins put together a career-best performance against IUPUI Oct. 6 of last season, picking up Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors after playing a role in all three MKE goals in a 3-0 shutout of the Jaguars. She scored the eventual game-winner in the 60th minute to break open a scoreless affair, lacing the shot into the side netting. She then set up teammates perfectly for goals two and three, assisting Natalie Auble's goal in the 63rd minute with a header while picking up a second assist on a free kick that was headed into the net by Haley Johnson in the 70th to round out the scoring. The four-point (1G/2A) effort marked the second-most for a Panther in a game last season (Molly O'Regan had 2G/1A for 5 points vs. Robert Morris). Higgins went on to lead the Horizon League with a career-high 10 assists, marking the seventh straight season a Panther has paced the conference in assists.

HOO-RAY HORIZON
When it comes to Horizon League openers, the record is quite impressive all-time. Milwaukee has gone 25-3-1 in opening action (since joining the league in 1994), with a string of 14 wins in a row from 1998 through 2011. The squad had been victories in nine straight as well, before getting knocked off by WSU in 2022.

The Panthers have had a very long line of success when it comes to Horizon League play, claiming the regular-season title in six of the past seven seasons (2015-19/2021) as well as 20 of the past 22 titles overall. In fact, the team has posted a sparkling 58-2-4 ledger (.938 win %) over the past seven campaigns (coming into 2022) in regular-season conference play.

A FAMILIAR LOOK
Following a season in which the team lost 12 players to graduation or transfer and were able to count on just two returning starters on the field, the 2023 roster will have a much more experienced and familiar look.

The team returns eight of its Top 10 point scorers, including team leader Kayla Rollins, who not only led the team with her 20 points and nine goals but also topped the Horizon League in both categories. In addition to Rollins, the Panthers return Lainey Higgins, who led the league with her 10 assists (which finished 14th in the NCAA) and added three goals for 16 points which ranked fourth in the Horizon League. MKE graduated just three regular starters and will have an experienced roster that sees eight players that made at least 11 starts (out of the 19 total games) a year ago including Higgins (all 19), Anna Champine (19), Rollins (17), Senya Meuer (17), Elizabeth Reece (17), Brooke Parnello (16), Clara Broecker (12), and Kendall Edwards (11).

Points: returners accounted for 83 of the 123 points (67.5 percent)
Goals: 25 of 39 goals (64.1 percent)
Assists: 33 of 45 assists (73.3 percent)
Starts: returning players accounted for 51 starts last season.
Minutes: returning players accounted for 5,830 of 21,175 minutes played (27.5 percent), with just two players that saw the field over 1,000 minutes (Clara Broecker 1,894 and Kat Van Booven 1,104).

GOALKEEPERS KEEP ON KEEPING ON
Another area of strength will be in goal, where Milwaukee returns a pair of players that essentially split the season a year ago. Kendall Edwards ended the season with 11 games played (965:00), posting a 0.84 goals-against average and a 7-2-1 record to go along with an .827 save percentage and six shutouts. Parker Donahugh saw action in nine games (754:07) and was 5-2-2 with four clean sheets, a .789 save percentage, and a 0.95 GAA.

THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR
Milwaukee recorded a 1-0 victory over Youngstown State in the 2022 Horizon League Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament. 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 2015, the Panthers have played 36 games that ended 1-0 (either way). Their record? An impressive 30-6 in those pressure-packed outings, including against Green Bay and Oakland to close out the 2022 regular season as well as against Marquette for head coach Kevin Boyd's first-ever victory back in August.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!
Milwaukee went 5-1-4 at home back in 2015. Since then, the Panthers have posted an impressive 59-6-4 ledger at Engelmann Stadium (an .884 winning percentage), including perfect 8-0 (in 2022) and 11-0 runs (2019) through home outings and a 13-1 mark at Engelmann in 2021.

CATCH THEM IN ACTION
Milwaukee women's soccer will be available for the viewing pleasure of fans this season, as all nine 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 fall 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 $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.

PANTHERS IN THE WORLD CUP
For the first time in program history, the Milwaukee women's soccer program had former players appear in the World Cup. A pair of sisters, Chandler McDaniel and Olivia Davies-McDaniel, were on the roster of the Philippines national team this summer, which is the first male or female squad from the country to qualify for the event. Olivia played in goal for the Panthers from 2016 to 2019, part of a very successful four-year stretch where the team went 62-9-8 overall, including a 32-1-3 record in regular-season Horizon League play. She posted a 1.13 goals-against average as a freshman, and didn't allow a goal her junior year. Chandler McDaniel played for Milwaukee in 2018 and 2019 after transferring from Virginia Tech and started all 19 games in 2018, finishing the season with one goal and two assists. She made a great first impression, assisting the game-winner in the season opener against Northern Illinois, and helped the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and 2019. Olivia was the hero of the team's first-ever World Cup victory this summer, as the Philippines shocked co-host New Zealand with a 1-0 victory July 24. Davies-McDaniel secured the win in extra time, making a spectacular save on a shot that would have tied it up with less than three minutes remaining. Florida State had the most former players appearing in the 2023 World Cup at eight, but with two, Milwaukee was tied for 20th.

ON TAP
Milwaukee continues its difficult opening to the season, traveling to take on an Arkansas team Thursday that is currently ranked No. 10 in the country. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. CST.