The Milwaukee men's soccer team looks to bounce back from a tough start in Horizon League play with two matches this week, opening with the first of three cup games for the program this season. On Tuesday, the Panthers welcome Northern Illinois, as the two teams battle for the LeWang Cup. Then, on Saturday, the team hits the road for its next conference matchup at Wright State, scheduled for a 4 p.m. CST kickoff.

The game against the Huskies is a planned "Gold Out" night for fans, so head to Engelmann in your gold MKE gear to support the team as it battles for the LeWang Cup. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call.

Saturday's affair against the Raiders will not be streamed. Both games this week will have live statistics and all links are available on the Milwaukee website.

The Panthers lead the all-time series against Northern Illinois by a count of 23-20-5. 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 the past four in a row, including a 3-2 decision a year ago.

It will mark the 49th 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.

Milwaukee is 19-12-8 all-time against Wright State, which includes a long stretch of dominance in the early 2000's that witnessed a 12-game winning streak. The Raiders have turned the tables a bit of late, winning six of the past 12 meetings and going 6-2-4 in that stretch. The most recent decision was last fall, a 2-2 draw in Milwaukee, marking the second consecutive tie in the series (1-1 in Ohio in 2021).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies are coming off a 5-8-4 campaign overall last season, which included a 2-5-1 mark in their final season of Mid-American Conference soccer play. NIU brought in 11 newcomers this fall after losing seven starters from 2022. Despite those losses, the Huskies still return 75 percent of their goals scored from a year ago. Ryan Swan begins his seventh season as head coach and the team starts its first season as affiliate members of the Missouri Valley Conference and was tabbed eighth in the preseason poll.

The team enters play at 2-3 overall after a big 7-2 victory over Aurora and a 2-1 loss to Northwestern last week. Seven of the 10 NIU goals on the season did come in that one decision, with Eddie Knight (3G/1A) leading the way with seven points and Camilo Estrada (3G) just behind with six. In net, Jakub Rojek has played four of the five full matches, posting a .793 save percentage and 1.50 goals-against average.

WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders went 4-7-6 overall last season and recorded a 4-1-4 mark in league play. Wright State was picked fourth in the Horizon League preseason coaches poll. Alex Van der Sluijs was named the 11th head coach in Wright State men's soccer program history in April after serving as an assistant coach with the program since last fall.

So far this fall, WSU is 0-2-2 and did open Horizon League play with a 2-0 loss at IUPUI. The team does also play at Eastern Illinois Tuesday before hosting MKE on the weekend. Reece Allbaugh is the only player with more than two points on offense, leading the team with three on a goal and assist. Natan Admassu has a .524 save percentage and 2.99 GAA as the primary goalkeeper (300:51 of 360 total minutes).



OPEN THE FLOODGATES
The Panthers turned a 0-0 deadlock into a 3-0 victory over Dayton Sept. 4, scoring all three goals over the final 12:48 of the contest. David Cox picked up the eventual game-winner on a PK at the 78:12 mark and then Daiki Kumakawa made it 2-0 at 81:24, with Asher Ozuzu closing out the scoring at the 86:09 mark. The three goals in a span of 7:57 on the clock is the quickest trio of finding the back of the net for the team since netting three in a span of 3:06 against Western Illinois Oct. 5, 2021. That spree marked the quickest in the program in over 25 years.

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.

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 eight different countries or territories. In addition to 17 players from the United States, the roster will have representation from the following:

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

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
The Panthers are now 24-13-3 all-time in league openers in seasons in which they have been affiliated with a conference following a loss to Purdue Fort Wayne this year. Head coach Kris Kelderman is 5-6-2 in his 13 seasons, with the team knocking off UIC to open 2021 by a final score of 2-1 and also beating Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2, in 2020.

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.

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 freshmen 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. After scoring in his first collegiate game, he followed with a backflip celebration that brought a roar from the crowd.

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 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 54-13-12 (.769) when finding the back of the net at least twice in a match, including the most recent 3-0 win over Dayton.

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 50-28-24 (.608) 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 come back home for a big match, hosting Marquette for the "Milwaukee Cup" Tuesday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.