Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers men's soccer team will begin a two-game road trip this week, facing St. Thomas in Minnesota on Tuesday before resuming Horizon League play against IU Indy in Indiana on Saturday.

Tuesday's non-conference match against St. Thomas is set for 4 p.m. and will be streamed on the Summit League Network. The conference game at IU Indy will also kick off at 4 p.m. CT and can be viewed on ESPN+. Live statistics for both matches are accessible through the Milwaukee Panthers' official website.

St. Thomas, which moved to NCAA Division I in 2021, holds a 2-0-1 advantage over Milwaukee in their brief series history, with last season’s meeting ending in a 1-1 draw. The Tommies finished last year with a 4-10-2 record and were picked to finish last in the Summit League preseason poll for this season. Under head coach Jon Lowery, now in his 14th year, St. Thomas has started the current campaign at 3-1-2 and remains unbeaten at home.

IU Indy enters the week with a 3-2-2 record after defeating Wright State to open league play. Head coach Sid van Druenen is in his fourth year leading the Jaguars, who went 5-9-3 last season and were selected eighth in the Horizon League preseason poll.

Milwaukee has an all-time record of 6-1-3 against IU Indy, including a six-match unbeaten streak (3-0-3) and a win last season where they scored three second-half goals after trailing early.

Last week, Milwaukee recorded a notable offensive performance with a 9-1 victory over Chicago State on September 9. Fernando Pirry tied the program record by scoring four goals—all within one half—becoming only the eleventh Panther to achieve this feat and earning Horizon League Player of the Week honors for September 15. The nine-goal output was Milwaukee’s highest since defeating Bradley by nine goals in September of 1990.

The Panthers extended their home unbeaten streak to thirteen games (7 wins, six draws) following a scoreless draw with Cleveland State on September 13. This ties their school record set during an undefeated home run in 2002.

Head coach Kris Kelderman is currently serving his fifteenth season with Milwaukee and has guided them to consistent results both in league openers (24-14-4 all-time) and overall season openers (27-19-7). He holds ten wins from fifteen NCAA Division I season debuts as head coach.

This season sees changes to Milwaukee’s offense due to departures among top scorers from last year; Bienvenu Djunga returns as the leading scorer from last season with nine points. Returning players accounted for about one-third of total points scored by the team last year and just over half of total minutes played.

Defensively, returning starters such as Daiki Kumakawa, Jack Wagner, Ryan Berghauer, Mitch Goodman, and Breon Jarvis bring experience from a back line that led the Horizon League by allowing only 1.16 goals per game last year.

In goalkeeping changes, Nic Diana joins as transfer from Purdue Fort Wayne after leading that program—and the conference—in goals-against average (0.92) and shutouts (six) last year.

Milwaukee continues its tradition of international recruitment; this fall’s roster includes student-athletes from eight countries or territories alongside eighteen U.S.-based players.

The longstanding rivalry between Milwaukee and Marquette for possession of the "Milwaukee Cup" continues this month; Milwaukee leads all-time with thirty-one wins compared to Marquette’s twelve since records began.

Looking ahead, Milwaukee returns home next week to host Marquette for their annual rivalry match on September 23 at Engelmann Stadium.