PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer opens a two-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Lehigh for the final non-conference match of the regular season at 7 p.m. inside Penn Park.
 
Penn was picked first in the Ivy League's preseason poll, which was announced by the league office on August 31. The Quakers received 119 voting points from 16 media members—two from each of the eight Ivy institutions—and garnered nine first-place votes. Cornell was picked second, with 115 points and six first-place votes, while Harvard got the final first-place vote and 87 points total to place third. Yale (73 points), Princeton (67), Dartmouth (49), Brown (42), and Columbia (24) rounded out the poll.
 
MATCH DAY 12 — PENN (3-3-5, 1-1-2 Ivy League) vs. Lehigh (2-7-5, 1-3-2 Patriot League)
Tuesday, Oct. 17 | 7 p.m. | Penn Park
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Program
 
Penn Men's Soccer on ESPN+
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home matches, as well as road Ivy matches and select non-conference road matches, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages.
Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
Penn vs. Lehigh
Though the Quakers have a commanding hold over the series with the Mountain Hawks, leading 30-16-5, it has been a few seasons since Penn has grabbed a win in the series. Three of the last five matches between these teams have resulted in draws, the other two matches ending with Lehigh wins. The last time these in-state foes faced off was during the 2019 season when the Mountain Hawks came out on top 2-1 on the road. The Red and Blue's most recent win was during the 2009 season when Penn blanked Lehigh 2-0 at home.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Senior Michael Hewes scored Penn's goal last week, nailing the game-tying equalizer in the 64th minute against Monmouth on Tuesday to force the match to a 1-1 draw and extend the Quakers' unbeaten home streak that stretches back to the 2021 season.
 
*Senior goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen recorded eight saves on goal last week, tallying four against Monmouth and four at Brown. The Toronto, Ontario, native enters the match with Lehigh with five clean sheets on the season after last Saturday's 0-0 draw with the Bears.
 
*Stas Korzeniowski and Hewes lead the Quakers with four goals on the season apiece, with Korzeniowski's last goal coming off a penalty kick against Cornell on Oct. 7.
 
*Christoffersen has been a force in the net for the Quakers this season, holding a 0.73 goals-against-average and .795 save percentage.

*Penn went 13-3-2 overall last season and won the Ivy League title with a 6-1-0 mark. The Quakers then advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2013 (11th time overall), defeating Big Ten Tournament champion Rutgers in the first round, 3-0, before falling in overtime to the eventual national champion Syracuse, 2-1. Of note, Penn was the last team to hold a lead against the Orange in the 2022 season.
 
*Penn's 13 wins overall were tied for the second-most in program history along with the 1971, 1973 and 2010 teams. Only the 1972 team (14-1-1) has more.
 
*Penn's six wins in Ivy League play were the most in a season since 1972, when the Quakers won the title with a 6-0-1 mark. The 1971 squad remains the only Penn team to go a perfect 7-0-0 in Ivy play.
 
*Penn returns plenty of firepower from a year ago, starting with the reigning Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in juniors Korzeniowski and Leo Burney. (If you're doing the math, you are correct…both of them won the honors as sophomores.) Last year marked the first time that teammates swept the offensive and defensive honors since the award was split in 2013. The last sophomore to win Ivy Player of the Year before them last year? Rikki Dadason at Columbia in 1993.
 
*The pair of juniors—both of whom received All-America recognition last year by the United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News—were recently named to the Hermann Award Watch List as announced by the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC). Of the 37 players on the list, they were the only two Ivy Leaguers.
 
*This summer, both players contributed greatly to the success of Ballard FC in USL League 2 play, leading the club to the title in a thrilling victory over Lionsbridge FC, 2-1, on August 5. Korzeniowski scored the opening goal in the match, while Burney played a major role in setting up inside the box for the match winner.
 
*Korzeniowski—who also was Penn's goal scorer in the season opener at Fordham—wreaked havoc on opposing defenses throughout last season, scoring a conference-leading 10 goals and adding six assists for 26 points, the most by a Quaker in more than 25 years. He capped his season with goals in five of the team's final seven matches, including four of the last five Ivy contests.
 
*Penn also returns junior defender Do, who was honorable mention All-Ivy and won the Bill Wilkinson Rookie of the Year Award from the Philadelphia Soccer Six last year as a sophomore. He started all 18 matches last season.

*Hewes was Penn's third-leading scorer last season, netting six goals, while junior Curran was the other multi-goal scorer in 2022.

*At the other end, Penn is bolstered by the return of Christoffersen for another season in goal. (He has gone the distance in all three matches so far this season.) The Canadian played all but four minutes between the pipes in 2022 and earned second-team All-Ivy, then was selected with the 25th pick of the 2022 MLS Super Draft third round (83rd overall) by CF Montréal.
 
*Penn's head coach is Brian Gill, who moved into the director's chair in February 2018 after spending a year as an assistant coach under Rudy Fuller. He was a unanimous selection as Ivy League Coach of the Year last season and his staff was picked as the Northeast Region Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.

*Christoffersen and Hewes are two of this year's captains, along with senior Jacob Muchnick and junior Aaron Messer. Christoffersen also was a captain last season.
 
For the latest on Penn men's soccer, follow @PennMSoccer on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com