WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The nationally ranked University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team dropped its non-conference on the road on Tuesday night, falling 1-0 to Monmouth.
 
Both defenses put in the work in the midweek battle, as a combined three shots were attempted on goal in the match, with #12 Penn's coming from freshman Romeo Dahlen.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior Oliver Pratt led the offense, attempting a season and team-high two shots in the match.
 
*Leo Burney, Connor Dawson, and goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III played the full 90 minutes.
 
*Falcon III faced only two shots against the Hawks, stopping one in the tight defensive battle.
 
*Junior Gavin Seele made his season debut against the Hawks, docking seven minutes.

How It Happened
Both teams were held shotless till the 15th minute when the Hawks' Olle Brorsson attempted an off target shot to open up the chances in the match. The defenses put on a show early as the next shot of the night did not come till the 23rd minute when senior Burney slammed one towards goalkeeper Eryk Dymora, but it hit the crossbar before it could do any damage.
 
Monmouth tried its hand at keeper Falcon three minutes after Burney's shot, but it went wide to keep the game zero halfway through the first. The final shot of the half and first on goal came from the Quakers in the 43rd minute by forward Dahlen, but keeper Dymora made the save to keep the defensive battle at 0-0 to end the first.
 
The Hawks came out of the halftime break trying to make some noise, as Erik Reis attempted one that was blocked by the Red and Blue defense. Junior Erickson Sakalosky tried his first shot of the night at the 48th-minute mark, but it went wide before anything could happen.
 
Both teams tried to get hot in the 60th minute, but neither were successful as senior Brandon Curran tallied a shot that was blocked, and Monmouth's Gabe Dahlin recorded a shot that went wide to the left of Falcon's goal.
 
Monmouth turned on the heat in the final 20 minutes of regulation as Jakob Friedman slammed at Falcon, which the sophomore saved to record his first of the match. The Hawks were awarded a corner in the 74th minute, allowing Dahlin to sneak one past Falcon to push Monmouth ahead 1-0.
 
The Hawks' goal caused the intensity to amp up as Friedman tallied another shot that was blocked by Penn's defense three minutes after the goal, followed by a shot from sophomore Owen Sullivan that went high in the 78th minute.
 
The Quakers tried to answer in the final few minutes, as junior Pratt rocketed one off a corner in the 83rd that was ultimately misdirected at the final second, followed by two more shots from Jack-Ryan Jeremiah and Pratt, but were both, unfortunately, blocked to end the match.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (9-2-1, 3-0 Ivy League) return to Ivy League action this weekend, heading to Ithaca for a nationally televised matchup with Cornell on Sunday. Kickoff against the Big Red is slated for noon on ESPNU.