PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team scored just over a minute in to their NCAA Championship First Round match Thursday night against Rutgers, putting the match on ice midway through the second half en route to a 3-0 win from Penn Park.
Quaker Notemeal
* Penn played four matches this season at Penn Park, winning all four without conceding a goal (8-0).
* The Quakers ended a five-match winless streak against Rutgers dating back to a 1-0 win for Penn on October 23, 2002.
* Thursday night was Penn's eighth shutout this season, the most for the program since the 2010 team posted nine clean sheets.
* With its 13
th win of the season, Penn has moved into a four-way tie for second-most victories in program history with the 2010, 1973, and 1971 teams, trailing only the 1972 team who started the season 14-0-1 before falling in their first match of NCAAs.
* James C. Gentle Head Coach
Brian Gill improved to 9-3-2 against teams from New Jersey in his tenure as Penn head coach, good for a .714 win percentage, including a 5-0-0 mark this season. In addition, Penn improved to 20-6-6 at home under Gill, a.719 win percentage.
*
Ben Stitz scored twice and
Stas Korzeniowski scored once, with the two ending the night tied for the team lead of 11 goals. Either Stitz or Korzeniowski have scored in 12 of the 17 matches this season for Penn.
* With 43 goals on the season, Penn's now scored more than any team in the last 49 years. The aforementioned 1973 squad found the back of the net 56 times that Fall.
* Penn's now won three straight matches by shutout since the end of the 2018/start of 2019 seasons, and the first time in the same season since the 2010 team won five straight via shutout.
Gallery: (11-17-2022) Men's Soccer vs. Rutgers - 11/18/22
How It Happened
With some of the more than 750 fans in attendance still finding their seats, Stitz found the back of the net in the second minute. Playing a ball to himself from about 14 yards out, Stitz fired a shot that bounced just in front of the goal line and tucked inside the right post.
In the 31
st minute,
Michael teDuits took advantage of a misplay from the Scarlet Knights' backline and fired one from 16 yards out that the Rutgers' keeper got a hand on, but the ball deflected to Korzeniowski who found just enough room to get his right leg on the rebound for a two-goal cushion. Penn's defense yielded zero shots on goal the rest of the half as the Red and Blue carried the lead to the locker room.
Two saves from goalkeeper
Nick Christoffersen kept Rutgers off the scoreboard through the hour mark before Stitz closed the door on any thoughts of a Rutgers comeback in the 70th.
Mateo Zazueta got his leg on a Rutgers clearance attempt and lobbed one into Stitz at the top of the 18-yard box. With his body facing the left corner flag, Stitz fired a left-foot shot across the box that tucked about a foot inside the right post for his second of the night.
Rutgers put two more attempts on-target in the final 20 minutes, but Christoffersen was equal to the task on both, capping a magical night at Penn Park with his seventh clean sheet of the season and fourth in his last five matches.
Up Next
Penn will head to Syracuse for a 2:00 match this Sunday, November 20, with the three-seeded Orange from the SU Soccer Stadium. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since November 5, 1922.
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