PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team is back in action this weekend, heading to Hanover, N.H., on Saturday for the first Ivy League road bout of the season. The Quakers battle Dartmouth at 7 p.m. under the lights of Burnham Field.
 
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 8 — PENN (2-2-3, 0-0-1 Ivy League) at DARTMOUTH (3-3-1, 1-0 Ivy League) 
Saturday, Sept. 30 | 7 p.m. | Hanover, N.H.
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats 

Penn Men's Soccer on ESPN+
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Penn vs. Dartmouth
The Quakers hold the all-time lead of the series, having a four-game advantage over the Big Green. Penn currently has a two-game win streak, with both victories being played at home. The most recent win was last October when the Blue and Red held Dartmouth scoreless, while Ben Stitz '23 and Michael Hewes both netted goals in the 2-0 contest. The Big Green's last win came on the road in the 2019 season when Dartmouth scored a late second-half goal to take the game 1-0 in Philadelphia.

Quaker Notemeal
*Brandon Curran scored the sole Quaker goal this past week, netting a cross from Ben Do to tie Yale 1-1 in the 64th minute of the game.
 
*Shots on net were not a problem for the offense last week, as Penn recorded ten combined shots on goal between the matches with Loyola Maryland and Yale. The Red and Blue attempted seven shots on the Bulldogs' goalkeeper, with four coming from Do and Curran.
 
*Goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen has been a force in the net for the Quakers this season, holding a 0.71 goals-against-average and .783 save percentage. The senior stopped five of six shots attempted on goal in the past two games. 
 
*Hewes and Stas Korzeniowski lead the offense with three goals and six shots on goal apiece, while Do paces the team in assists with four.

*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.

*Senior 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