PHILADELPHIA – The #20 University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team opened Ivy League play on Saturday night at Rhodes Field, shutting down Columbia 1-0.
 
Freshman Romeo Dahlen scored his first collegiate goal in the 52nd minute to push Penn to a 1-0 Ivy League record and a 6-1-1 overall record.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn controlled the match's momentum for the entire 90 minutes, recording 17 shots with five registering on goal while holding Columbia to one shot.
 
*Goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III tallied his fifth clean sheet of the year, stopping the Lions' sole shot in the game to do his part.
 
*Leo Burney and Connor Dawson clocked the full 90 minutes on the pitch. 
 
How It Happened
Senior Stas Korzeniowski started the Quaker offense off strong, firing a wide shot at the eight-minute mark. Junior Erickson Sakalosky nearly broke the tie about halfway through the first, but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced forward before it caused any damage.
 
A minute later, Penn fired off three straight shots, with Korzeniowski, Sakalosky, and sophomore Dawson each touching the ball, but all three were misdirected before they could reach Columbia's keeper.
 
Junior Patrick Cayelli and Korzneiowski tallied the first on-target shots in the 27th and 28th minutes, but keeper Alexander O'Brien made both saves to hold the game at 0-0. The Quakers continued to fire off shots to close out the first quarter, as Korzeniowski tried his fourth of the half that sailed above the net, and Cayelli attempted another that was blocked in the 39th minute to end the offense of the half.
 
The Red and Blue came out of the break with a point to prove, as Dahlen headed the ball right at O'Brien to open the second quarter. Three minutes later, Dahlen scored his first collegiate goal to give Penn a 1-0 lead that would not be relinquished for the rest of the match.

 
Both defenses held up after Dahlen's goal, as there was not another shot on goal until the 71st minute. Forward Korzeniowski looked like he was about to sneak through a pair of Lion defenders, but O'Brien made the save to keep the deficit at one.
 
Columbia finally attempted a shot in the 85th minute, as Andrew Hilton II slammed one towards Falcon, but the keeper tallied his first and only save to help secure the 1-0 win for The Red and Blue. 
 
Up Next
The Quakers (6-1-1, 1-0 Ivy League) hit the road for New England next weekend, heading to Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 5, with a 1 p.m. matchup with the Crimson.