Junior forward Jack Wagoner celebrates after scoring against Pitt on Sep. 1, 2024.
Credit: Nathaniel SirlinPenn men’s soccer is back.
Penn (1-0) christened the newly renovated Rhodes Field with a stunning upset win against Pitt (3-1), the third-ranked team in the nation.
After two long seasons, Rhodes Field reopened with a natural grass playing surface. Both men’s and women’s soccer spent the last two seasons at Penn Park, which is covered with artificial turf. The difference in surface has undoubtedly been an adjustment, contributing to the team’s excitement to return to its true home field.
“It’s a very unique setting and I think the guys really take a lot of pride in this being our home facility. It’s got a little bit of Wrigley [Field], Fenway Park type feel to it. You sort of embrace the little imperfections of it but it also creates the atmosphere,” coach Brian Gill said. “It’s such a reward for the guys who put in a lot of work to have this venue and put games on like this.”
Penn men's soccer played Pitt at Rhodes Field on Sep. 1, 2024.
In the first ever matchup between Penn and Pitt, seven of Penn’s starters from last season were back in action, including senior defender Leo Burney and senior forward Stas Korzeniowski. Both were named to the United Soccer Coaches watch list for their respective positions.
Korzeniowski and the rest of the offensive unit got right back to work, maintaining a strong hold on the possession battle. While it was a constant back-and-forth, Penn pushed heavily on offense. In the first half, they finished with eight shot attempts to Pitt’s three.
The defense was anchored by Burney as well as senior midfielder Aaron Messer, senior defender Ben Do, junior defender Oliver Pratt, and sophomore midfielder Jack-Ryan Jeremiah to start the match. Pitt had two goals apiece in each of their past three victories, averaging 15 shots per game. But in the first half, they failed to gain momentum, coming close to the goal only a few times before the ball was booted away by Penn defenders.
Meanwhile, Penn’s aggressive push on offense finally paid off during the 40th minute of play.
Two Penn players attempt to steal the ball from Pitt on Sep. 1, 2024.
After the defense launched the ball down the right side of the field, sophomore midfielder Pierce Wagner found himself in a tightly contested battle for the ball in Pitt territory. After Wagner and his defender fell to the grass, senior midfielder Brandon Curran came to secure possession and passed it to Messer who, despite a smooth slide on the grass, kept possession for the Red and Blue before quickly passing to junior forward Jack Wagoner.
Wagoner, seeing an opening in the Pitt defense, did not hesitate and quickly launched the ball into the left side of the net — less than a minute after he took the field as a substitute.
“It felt great. Took me a second and a half to process what happened, but such a great feeling seeing the fans go crazy and everybody run over and give me hugs,” Wagoner said. “It’s an experience that I’ve been waiting for a long time, and I hope to replicate that this season and in the future.”
The goal put Penn up 1-0 going into halftime and sent Wagoner and the rest of the Quakers into a celebratory frenzy. It was the first goal back on Rhodes Field and of the season — and most importantly, of Wagoner’s collegiate career.
From there, the blue sky and pink clouds fainted into a pitch-black night sky as the second half took off.
Junior defender Oliver Pratt heads the ball against Pitt on Sep. 1, 2024.
In the second half, the roles reversed as the Quakers had limited shots on offense, only attempting two shots in the last half of play. Meanwhile, the Panthers had seven — several of which made the home crowd hold their breath in anticipation. But the defensive line held down the fort each time.
“Obviously they’re always going to push the tempo and try to find chances to equalize and maybe eventually try to find a lead of their own,” Gill said. “That being said, we really relied on something we think is a strength for us, which is taking a lot of pride and dealing with blocked shots and passes.”
Penn did everything it could in that second half to keep the ball out of the net, including strong saves by sophomore goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III in just his second collegiate game.
“We came out with the right intensity, but I think still some execution things that could have made the half a little bit easier for us,” Wagoner said. “But credit to Pitt, they did a great job playing on us, and making us feel it, and I think we did a good job being able to deal with it.”
Penn will look to keep the momentum going in another night game against city rival Temple on Friday at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Field.
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