PHILADELPHIA – Statement made. The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team stunned the undefeated #3 University of Pittsburgh 1-0 at Rhodes Field in its 2024 season opener on Sunday night.
 
Junior Jack Wagoner scored the game-winner off the bench in the 43rd minute of the match to hand Pitt its first loss of the season and Penn its first win.
 
Quaker Notemeal 
*Wagoner's goal accounted for the first of his collegiate career.
 
*The Quakers dominated offensively the entire game, outshooting the Panthers 8-2 on net, with five of the shots coming from the first half.
 
*Sophomore goalkeeper Phillip Falcon lll earned his first collegiate shutout and win, stopping two shots in the victory.
 
*Defenders Leo Burney and Connor Dawson, as well as keeper Falcon, played the entire 90 minutes of the battle.
 
*Marco Bottene, sophomore Dawson, Owen Sullivan, and Pierce Wagner all made their collegiate debuts in the match.
 
*Senior Stas Korzeniowski picked up where he left off last season, leading the Quaker offense with four shots, with three going on Pitt's keeper Jack Moxom.
 
How It Happened 
The in-state match was an intense battle from the start, as both teams were held shotless till the ten-minute mark when seniors Charlie Gaffney and Ben Do attempted back-to-back redirected shots. It wasn't till 11 minutes later that the first shot on goal of the bout was recorded from junior Erick Sakalosky.
 
The Quakers' defense held strong until halfway through the first, keeping the Panthers from shooting the ball till the 27th minute and forcing it to go off-target before it could reach Falcon.
 
Penn's Jack-Ryan Jeremiah received a scoring chance 37 minutes in, as Pitt received the sole yellow card of the match, but the sophomore's shot was saved before any damage could be done. Shortly after the card, the Quakers caught a spark as senior Mathis Varin attempted a corner that narrowly missed the right side of Moxom's net. Luckily, junior Wagoner was able to clean up off the corner, scoring Penn's first goal of the 2024 campaign off feeds from Aaron Messer and Brandon Curran to push the Quakers ahead 1-0 to end the first half.
 
Pitt came out of the halftime break with a point to prove, as freshman Miguel Bertran slammed a blocked shot toward Penn's net in the 48th minute. Bertran kept up his pace, attempting two additional shots during the 58th minute, but both were saved to account for Falcon's two saves of the night.
 
The energy of the game continued to heighten, with both teams exchanging the ball down the field before the Panthers' Felipe Mercade slammed back-to-back tallies that were both off-target around the 76th minute.
 
Senior Gaffney tried to widen the gap a few minutes later with a shot that looked like it was going to go past Moxom but was just shy of the post. The Quakers' defense held tough in the final ten minutes of regulation, forcing Mateo Maillefaud's shot to go off-target to keep the game at 1-0 and give Penn its first win of the year.
 
Up Next
The Quakers continue their homestand on Friday, Sept. 6, hosting Philly Soccer Six rival Temple at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Field.