PHILADELPHIA – After finally playing its first home match of the 2023 season on Saturday night, the University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team is back on the road for one final non-conference test before the start of Ivy League play this weekend. The Quakers are at Baltimore Tuesday night, kicking off with Loyola (Md.) at 7 p.m.
 
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 6 – PENN (2-2-1) at LOYOLA, Md. (0-1-5)
Tuesday, Sept. 19 | 7 p.m. | Baltimore, Md.
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | 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. Loyola (Md.)
The Quakers and Greyhounds are meeting for the fifth time, Penn holding a 1-0-3 advantage over their hosts Tuesday. The win came in 2005, and the most recent meeting came in 2021 in Philadelphia and ended in a 2-2 draw.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn defeated UAlbany on Saturday night in Penn Park in its home opener, 3-1, leveling the Quakers' record at 2-2-1 and keeping them unbeaten through their last three matches (2-0-1).
 
*Junior Stas Korzeniowski broke out after being held goalless for three matches, scoring twice to take home the match ball. The reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year opened the scoring in the 11th minute, then added insurance with Penn's third goal in the 73rd minute.
 
*Penn's other goal was scored by senior Mateo Zazueta, who converted a PK just before halftime in the 42nd minute. It was his second collegiate goal.
 
*Senior goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen allowed his first goal in just over 283 minutes of match time Saturday night but got the win.
 
*On September 8, Penn enjoyed one of the best regular-season victories in program history as the Quakers went to State College and posted a 3-0 win at No. 14 Penn State. It was the program's first win on PSU's home field.
 
*Senior Michael Hewes was the standout at PSU, as he netted a second-half hat trick to push Penn to victory. He was named the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Week that Monday and earned a spot on the CollegeSoccerNews.com National Team of the Week.
 
*At the other end, Christoffersen had six saves in keeping his first clean sheet of the season. He was named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week that Monday.
 
*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 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.

*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 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.
 
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