The Milwaukee men's soccer team heads into week two with a pair of matches on the schedule, hosting Northwestern Friday night before hitting the road for the first time in 2023 on Monday at Dayton.

The game against the Wildcats will be the final piece of the campus "Welcome Week" Panther tailgate, with festivities getting started in and around Engelmann Stadium for UWM students beginning at 5:30 p.m. including free food as well as MKE sunglasses for the first 250 students. Kickoff is slated for a 7 p.m. start.

The team then closes out the holiday weekend with a matchup at Dayton Monday, scheduled for a 4 p.m. CST start.

Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call Friday against NU. Each contest will have live statistics as well and all links are available on the Milwaukee website.

The Panthers have a very impressive record of 14-3-2 all-time against Northwestern, but the two teams have played just twice since 2002. The most recent was a 1-1 draw last fall in Evanston. Prior to that, the next in line was in September of 2012 that saw the Wildcats, ranked #18 at the time, pull out a 2-0 victory to snap what was a three-game win streak MKE had in the series. Those two contests are the only two in the series that have been played in the past 20 years.

The Panthers hold a dead-even 4-4-1 record in the all-time series against Dayton, with Monday's affair the first matchup since the 2018 season. The Flyers have had the upper hand of late, going 3-1-1 over the past five (which dates back to 2003). The first game in the series was played way back in 1978, with the most recent Panther win coming via a 1-0 decision (in Madison) in September of 2008.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats are coming off a 3-9-5 season a year ago, which included a 1-5-2 ledger in Big Ten play. Head coach Russell Payne starts his third year and the squad checked in eighth in the conference preseason poll. The 'Cats do return seven goal scorers from last season and also return 55.7 percent of minutes played from the 2022 roster. Ugo Achara Jr, Jason Gajadhar, and Justin Weiss were all named to the 2023 Big Ten Men's Soccer Players to Watch list.

The Wildcats are 2-0 for the first time since 2014. NU is looking to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2008, when it defeated San Francisco, IUPUI, and Iona to open the season. The team beat NJIT 1-0 for the first clean sheet of the season, with the lone goal in the 25th minute by Rom Brown. They also defeated St. Thomas in the season opener with a 90th-minute goal from Justin Weiss to lead 2-1. Weiss has a goal and assist to lead the offense with three points, while Jackson Weyman has a 0.50 GAA and a pair of saves through two games.

DAYTON: Head Coach Dennis Currier enters his 19th season in 2023, coming off a very successful year. The 2022 campaign saw Dayton achieve its highest national ranking in program history (#16) and was ranked for seven straight weeks. The Flyers led the nation in shots per game (21.9) and finished 10-2-5 overall and 5-1-1 at home. Dayton reached its 13th Atlantic 10 Championship tournament thanks to an offense that scored 39 goals. Basit Umar earned A-10 Rookie of the Year honors while Xavier Zengue, Forster Ajago, and Jaden Jones-Riley were all named Second Team All-Conference. The team was tabbed to finish second in the league behind favorites and reigning champions Saint Louis this fall.

The Flyers open the week at 0-1-1 after falling to UC Davis (2-0) and drawing with CSUN (2-2) last weekend. They will make a stop at IUPUI Friday before hosting MKE Monday.

GOAL!
Freshman Asher Ozuzu scored a big goal for the Panthers, netting the first of his collegiate career against Chicago State Aug. 27. In doing so, he became the 11th 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), Logan Farrington (2020), and Adi Vaknin (2021) on that list.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 27-19-5 all-time in season openers following a 3-2 loss to Chicago State to open 2023. Head coach Kris Kelderman now has 13 season openers on his resume at the NCAA Division I collegiate level, going 10-3-0. 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.

INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN
The Panthers will certainly have a new look this season, as 13 of the 25 players on the roster did not play at Milwaukee last season. In addition to four true freshmen, the team also welcomes nine transfers from other programs, all of which are listed in the junior class for eligibility purposes.

The team will also be inexperienced in goal, as all 1,530 of playing time between the pipes last season is not back on the field.

Points: returners accounted for 37 of the 76 points (48.6 percent)
Goals: 9 of 22 goals (40.9 percent)
Assists: 19 of 32 assists (59.4 percent)
Starts: returning players accounted for 121 starts last season (64.5 percent).
Minutes: returning players accounted for 7,901 of 16,772 minutes played (47.1 percent), with just three players that saw the field over 1,200 minutes (Gabe Anguil 1,251/David Cox 1,218/Josh Kidder 1,213)

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
The Panthers continue to add quite a mix to the active roster as players with international roots continue to join the program. This fall, the team will have student-athletes from seven different countries. In addition to 17 players from the United States, the roster will have representation from the following:

England: Harry O'Brien (Manchester)/Harry Lee (Warrington)
Ireland: Matthew Toolan (Dublin)
France: Bienvenu Djunga (Asnières-sur-Seine)
Japan: Daiki Kumakawa (Ryugasaki)
Spain: Mesfin Roda (Barcelona)/Raul Medina (Madrid)
Mexico: Daniel Ibarra (Monterrey)

DRAW IT UP
The 2022 season will go down in the record books from one standpoint ... games ending in a draw. Despite being in nearly every game last fall, the Panthers ended the campaign with a school record of eight ties.

The 1-1 result against the Phoenix Oct. 8 equaled the mark of five established in 2005 and matched again in 2008. In addition, the team played to a deadlock in three straight - 1-1 against Green Bay and 2-2 against both IUPUI and Wright State - marking the first time MKE has played three consecutive matches that have ended in a tie in the 50-year history of the program. The last time the Panthers posted even back-to-back pushes was the end of the 2019 campaign, playing UIC (0-0) and Wright State (1-1) even in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals and championship matches. All-time, the team has only played back-to-back draws just nine times in 50 seasons.

The Panthers finished just one even match away from tying the all-time NCAA record of nine in one season. Four other teams have accomplished the feat in the past, most recently UC Davis in 2014 (7-4-9). Others include South Florida (8-4-9 in 2013), St. John's (9-3-9 in 2009), and Providence (8-4-9 in 2005). With the changes in overtime last season, a few new entries were added as Fordham went 3-4-9 and Navy finished 7-5-9.

GABE SETTING IT UP
After finishing fourth in the Horizon League with his six assists as a freshman, Gabe Anguil picked up right where he left off in 2022. Through the early season action, Anguil had recorded assists on three of the first five MKE goals of the campaign, including a pair of helpers at NIU Sept. 5. He then picked up assists on both goals against Wright State September 28 and again on one of the two markers against IUPUI Oct. 1. He also had a goal and an assist in the draw at Northern Kentucky Oct. 22 and recorded another pair in the season finale against Purdue Fort Wayne.

His assist total of nine ended up leading the Horizon League and finished 12th in the NCAA per-game (0.53 APG) and 16th in total assists.

THAT'S MISTER TO YOU SIR
One of the true freshman on the MKE roster brings along his own "title" after being named "Mr. Soccer" in the state of Minnesota following his senior year. Asher Ozuzu attended Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minn., capping his prep career by winning the Class 3A "Mr. Soccer" award, the first time an Eastview player earned the distinction in school history. The team captain led the state with a school-record 39 goals (11 more than the prior record) and added seven assists for the Lightning on the year, picking up Minnesota All-State honors as well as being named the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year. The all-conference honoree had a four-goal game in the sectional semifinals to go along with five hat tricks and eight two-goal outings on the campaign.

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 in fall of 2021 and David Cox was the hero in 2020's version, netting the game-winner with 36 seconds left in regulation. Last fall, Raul Medina netted a goal in the 83rd to help MKE find a 1-1 decision and maintain possession of the Cup.

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 14 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. Nine 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.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 24-12-3 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference following a loss to Robert Morris in 2022. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 5-5-2 in his 12 seasons, with the team also knocking off UIC to open 2021 by a final score of 2-1 and also beat Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2, in 2020.

LEAGUE POLL
Following a challenging season in 2022, Milwaukee was picked by league coaches to finish seventh in the preseason poll. The Panthers tallied 42 points, which was within a few votes of being in the Top 5.

2023 #HLMSOC Preseason Poll
Pl.  Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1.      Cleveland State (9) – 99
2.      IUPUI (1)  -- 80
3.      Oakland – 71
4.      Wright State – 60
5.      Green Bay – 50
6.      Northern Kentucky – 46
7.      Milwaukee – 42
8.      Robert Morris – 40
9.      Purdue Fort Wayne – 34
10.   Detroit Mercy – 28

GETTING TO TWO
Recently on offense, once the team has found a second goal, the Panthers continue to be very tough to beat. The squad went 7-1-0 in 2021, 6-1-0 in 2020, and 10-0-1 in 2019 when scoring two or more goals. That brings the six-plus year tally to 53-13-12 (.756) 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 50-27-24 (.614) at home in Kris Kelderman's 11-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 seven of the 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 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
The Panthers open Horizon League play, hosting Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday, set for a 3 p.m. start.