PHILADELPHIA – Starting the season off with a bang! The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team opened the 2025 season on Friday night at Rhodes Field, shutting out Loyola Maryland 4-0.
 
Patrick Cayelli and Romeo Dahlen were offensive forces in the campaign opener, tallying four points each. On the other end of the field, David Howard did his part, stopping two saves in his collegiate debut to help lift Penn to a 1-0 record to start the year.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Adam Ambrus-Aikelin, Carter Feinman, George Herbert, senior Howard, Michael Howard, Nik Kathiresan, Adam Kuechler, Kalani Kunimura, Lincoln Matuskiewicz, Theo Ottosson, Tim Shine, and Patrick Weir made their Penn debuts in the battle.
 
*Sophomore Dahlen, goalkeeper Howard, and Malachi Neal cracked the starting lineup for the first time in their collegiate careers.
 
*Cayelli tied his career-high four points in the outing (2a, 1g), while Dahlen tallied a brace to post a career-high four points.
 
*The Red and blue outshot the Greyhounds 18-6, with ten of the Red and Blue's shots reaching goalkeeper Connor O'Keefe.
 
How It Happened
Kicking off the action, forward Dahlen recorded the first shot of the game, almost tipping in a beautiful feed from Cayelli, but Loyola's defense blocked the shot in the crease. Building on that momentum, forward Howard had the next best attempt of the first during the 12th minute, but the Greyhounds' defense once again blocked the shot.
 
Momentum shifted in the 29th minute when the first Penn goal of the season came from sophomore Dahlen, who this time tipped in Cayelli's pass to break the scoreless tie in the 29th minute. Loyola's first shot of the battle didn't come until the 37th minute, but keeper Howard held strong, recording the first save of his collegiate career to end the scoring chances of the half.
 
After halftime, Penn came out hot, as Oliver Pratt slammed one towards goalie O'Keefe that was saved but resulted in a corner. Seizing this opportunity, senior Cayelli did his part with the corner kick, passing it to Jack Wagoner, who headed in the ball during the 49th minute to bump the lead to 2-0.
 
The next shot of the period wasn't recorded until almost 15 minutes later by Erickson Sakalosky, but the senior's shot soared above the net. Cayelli finally found the back of the net himself in the 68th minute to extend the score to 3-0.
 
The offense put the nail in the coffin, as Dahlen tallied his second goal and the final of the night in the 75th minute to push the Quakers to their first win of the season with the 4-0 shutout.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League) hit the road for the first time of the season next week, heading to Seton Hall on Friday, Sept. 5, for a 6:56 p.m. matchup.