PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team dropped its match to Cornell on Saturday night, falling 2-1 at Rhodes.
 
After a scoreless tie at halftime, Cornell netted two goals to hand Penn its first Ivy League loss of 2025 off a 2-1 tally.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Marco Bottene scored Penn's sole goal in the contest.
 
*Keeper Phillip Falcon III tied his career-high six stops in tonight's battle.
 
*Cornell outscored Penn in shots on goal 8-3.
 
*Connor Dawson, Falcon, Malachi Neal, and Oliver Pratt docked the full 90 minutes on the pitch.
 
*Jack-Ryan Jeremiah made his return from injury in the match.
 
How It Happened
The Ivy League battle started tense, with three fouls handed out. The first shot was not recorded until the 13th minute when Aiden Frick slammed one towards keeper Ryan Friedberg, but it was blocked before it could do any damage. Cornell tried to ramp up the energy in the 23rd minute as Blake Donahue tried to head on in off a corner that Falcon pushed away, followed immediately by a shot from Connor Miller that went above the crossbar.
 
The Big Red tried to break the scoreless tie in the final two minutes of the half, as Cornell recorded four shots on goal from Giorgos Diakos and Kasper Wollstein, but junior Falcon stopped all of them to keep the game even heading into the break.
 
Both offenses were quiet to open the second as the first shots weren't registered until the 57th minute when junior Neal headed one that went wide, followed immediately by a blocked shot from Cornell's Donahue. The Big Red broke the scoreless tie in the 62nd minute, as Sergio Zapata slammed one that hit the crossbar, allowing Connor Miller to clean up to push Cornell ahead 1-0. Adam Schaban almost doubled the lead for Cornell a few minutes later, but keeper Falcon scooped it up before it could hit the back of the net.
 
The Quakers were awarded two corners in the 69th and 70th minutes off blocked shots from Pratt and Bottene, but the Big Red's defenders knocked the ball away before anything could come from the corner kicks.
 
Cornell applied pressure on the Quaker defense between the 73rd and 75th minutes, as Daniel Samways, Sam Latona, and Aidan Martin all tried shots that were misdirected before they could reach the goal. Directly after Martin's shot, sophomore Bottene tried to even the battle, but keeper Friedberg scooped up the ball before it could pass him.
 
The Big Red doubled their lead in the 83rd minute as Wollstein slammed one past Falcon. The Quakers tried to fire things up as defender Neal tallied a shot that Friedberg saved four minutes later. Midfielder Bottene cut the lead in the last minute, but it was unfortunately too late for a comeback as time and the game expired with a 2-1 final score.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (6-3-4, 1-1-2 Ivy League) hit the road next weekend, heading to Dartmouth for a 7 p.m. matchup in New England.