MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Panthers women's soccer team is riding a wave of success as it chases its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
Under head coach Kevin Boyd's leadership, the Panthers have established themselves as a dominant force in Horizon League play, capturing three straight regular-season and tournament titles. The current senior class has an impressive conference record, losing just one league game throughout its entire career.
"One of our values is to be greater than the sum of our parts. So that is the team working together. For our team to be better together than any other team that we play against. That's a big part of what we preach and the way we train on a daily basis," Boyd said.
The Panthers' success stems from their challenging approach to preparation. The team schedules demanding nonconference matchups against top-tier opponents to prepare for league play.
"So we always started off pretty hard with a crazy nonconference schedule, like playing the top teams in the country, and then moving into conference, we put everything that we learned in those harder games and try and dominate because all of these teams are coming for us. We're their number one target," senior Lola Wojcik said.
Watch: Milwaukee Panthers women's soccer team chases fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season
The intensity of Milwaukee's practices often exceeds that of its actual games, creating a culture of continuous improvement.
"It's all about our practices. Like every day, we find a way to get better, even if we're winning or losing or whatever the outcome is. We always find a way to get better, and we always have things to improve on," senior Anna Champine said.
The team's chemistry has been a crucial factor in its sustained success. Senior Ellie Rebmann highlighted the close bonds formed within the program.
"My years there have been great. I've got a really close bond with these girls. Every year I've gotten closer and closer to more girls on the team. Especially this year, I feel like we're all super close, and it really makes playing more enjoyable," Rebmann said.
Boyd credits the senior leadership for driving the program's championship culture.
"I'm here for them, right? My job is to guide them and coach them to the best of my ability. The seniors are driving it. They do every single year. They want to go out the way they came in, and that's with a conference championship," Boyd said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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