PHILADELPHIA – Coming off one of the best seasons in program history, the University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team kicks off the 2023 campaign this weekend with a pair of matches in the Empire State. The Quakers will bookend the Labor Day Weekend with Fordham on Friday night in the Bronx and Hofstra on Monday night on Long Island.
 
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 1 – PENN at FORDHAM
Friday, Sept. 1 | 7 p.m. | Bronx, N.Y.
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
 
MATCH DAY 2 – PENN at HOFSTRA
Monday, Sept. 4 | 7 p.m. | Hempstead, N.Y.
Watch on FloSports ($) | Live Stats
 
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. Fordham
This is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Rams, who are 1-0-1 after opening their season with a 3-0 win over Sacred Heart and a 1-1 draw at Saint Francis (Pa.) last weekend. Fordham went 3-4-9 overall last year including a 1-2-5 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
 
Penn vs. Hofstra
This is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Pride, who are 1-1-0 after defeating Marist (1-0) but losing at FDU (1-0) last weekend. Hofstra went 14-4-3 last season including a 5-2-2 mark in what is now the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The Pride then won the CAA Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA College Cup, where they fell in the first round at South Florida.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*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 are tied for the second-most in program history along with the 1971, 1973 and 2010 teams. Only the 1972 team (14-1-1 record) 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 Stas 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 2023 MAC 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 wreaked havoc on opposing defenses throughout last season, tying teammate Ben Stitz for the conference lead with 11 goals and adding eight assists for 29 points. He capped his regular 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 Ben 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.

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

*At the other end, Penn was bolstered by the return of Nick Christoffersen for another season in goal. 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