PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team fell behind near the end of the first half, but rebounded with a goal midway through the second half while their defense clamped down as the Quakers played to a 1-1 draw with the Columbia Lions Saturday night from Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium in Ivy League action.
Quaker Notemeal
*Freshman
Stas Korzeniowski scored his second goal of the season off an assist from graduate student
Joey Bhangdia.
*For Bhangdia, it was his first assist since a 2-1 win over Delaware on October 30, 2018
*Freshman
Charlie Gaffney made his first collegiate start and finished with one of Penn's five shots on goal.
*Junior
Nick Christoffersen made his fourth start of the year, and has been the goalie of record in both of Penn's draws, the first coming against Loyola (Md.) back on September 13
How It Happened
Each team struggled to break down the other's defense in the first 40+ minutes, as the two sides combined for just eight total shots, with only one going on-target.
With 32 seconds left in the half, Jake Novoshelski headed home a cross from Will DeNight after some traffic in front of the box took Christoffersen out of the play.
The defensive struggle continued into the second half, as senior
Ben Stitz took the only shot attempt for either side in the first 27 minutes of the half.
In the 73rd minute, the Quakers finally broke through when Korzeniowski took a feed from Bhangdia about 30 yards out, played the ball ahead to himself in the box, then fired a right-footed strike off the gloves of Collodi into the net.
While action was relatively quiet down the stretch in regulation, both sides found opportunities in overtime. Stitz, Gaffney, and Korzeniowski all had on-target opportunities in the first 10 minutes, while Columbia had several chances from distance in the final five minutes, but all efforts fell just short.
Up Next
Penn returns to Rhodes Field for a Philly Soccer Six battle on Tuesday, October 12 against Drexel.
