BRONX, N.Y. – Junior forward
Stas Korzeniowski found himself back on the scoresheet to begin the 2023 season, but a penalty-kick goal soon after upended the University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team at Fordham Friday evening at Moglia Stadium.
Penn falls to 0-1-0 to begin the new campaign while the Rams improve to 2-0-1 through their first three matches.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn drops its first season opener under James C. Gentle Head Coach
Brian Gill after winning four in a row since he took over the reins of the program in 2018. It's the Quakers' first season-opening loss since September 1, 2017 at Monmouth (2-0).
*This was the first-ever meeting between Penn and Fordham, with the Rams taking a 1-0 series lead.
*The loss is the Quakers' first in the regular season since a 3-2 defeat at Harvard on October 29 of last year.
*
Stas Korzeniowski's goal is the 15th of his career and now has 37 career points. He's scored at least one goal in five of his last seven collegiate games dating back to last season.
*
Ben Do and
Mateo Zazueta both recorded helpers on Korzeniowski's match-tying strike. For Do, it's his fourth career assist, while it's Zazueta's fifth.
*Korzeniowski and
Michael Hewes totaled two shots each, while
Michael teDuits,
Brandon Curran and
Patrick Cayelli also had their own chances.
*Fordham held an 11-7 edge in shots, while the Quakers had four shots on goal to the Rams' three. Penn led the way on corner kicks, 5-3, while tallying 23 fouls to Fordham's 18.
*The Rams had four yellow cards, while
Joaquin Niehenke and Do were booked for Penn.
How It Happened
Penn was aggressive early and often to begin the match, accruing three fouls within the first five minutes of game action. That's when Fordham struck, using a Liam Salmon strike in the sixth minute to take a 1-0 lead.
Fifth-year senior
Nick Christoffersen made up for allowing the early goal with a save in the 17th minute to keep the deficit at one.
After missing a shot just seconds before,
Stas Korzeniowski capitalized on separation following a lovely ball sent in by
Ben Do, off the backwards head of
Mateo Zazueta and onto the foot of the striker to even the match at 1-1.
A mere 46 seconds removed from the Quakers' equalizer, a yellow card on freshman
Joaquin Niehenke set up a penalty-kick opportunity for Fordham's Timo Hummrich, who would not be denied, getting his shot past Christoffersen to take a 2-1 lead.
Penn had just one more shot attempt to close out the first half, a
Brandon Curran chance saved by Alex Dolce with 12 seconds remaining.
In the 48th and 53rd minutes, Penn had a pair of corner-kick chances that resulted in nothing as
Michael teDuits put up a shot in the 55th that was saved by Dolce.
The Quakers put an immense amount of pressure on the offensive end throughout the second half with three straight shots over the next three minutes. One of those included a potential equalizer from
Michael Hewes, which found the woodwork.
Fordham's defense handled Penn spectacularly to close out the night, holding the Quakers without a shot attempt over the final 10 minutes to hang on for the 2-1 victory.
Quotable
"The early stages of the season always gives everyone in the team a lot of different angles to consider. We feel as though there are a lot of valuable learning lessons coming out of this game. I think the guys put together some good stuff on both sides of the ball, which we are optimistic about at this point. Unfortunately, the reality is that small margins matter quite a bit in games at this level. Credit to Fordham, I felt they were very determined in their approach and won those margins particularly early in the game. Hofstra is a tournament team from last season. We will use the next couple of days to get our legs back, learn from this game tonight and start focusing on Monday." -
Brian Gill, James C. Gentle Head Coach of Men's Soccer
Up Next
Penn remains in the Empire State to take on Hofstra Monday night on Long Island at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live on FloSports.
For the latest on Penn men's soccer, follow @PennMSoccer on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com
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