Penn Athletics weekend preview: Fall sports winding down as winter sports open seasons

As the fall sports seasons are drawing to a close and winter seasons are opening up, multiple sports are in play. Here is a look into the multitude of games and events over the weekend.

Football

Penn (3-4, 1-3 Ivy) has its homecoming game against Cornell (1-6, 0-4) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Quakers are heading into this game after a decisive win against Brown last week, where freshman quarterback Aidan Sayin threw for 97 yards and two touchdowns. The homecoming game will be his third start of the year.

Senior running back Isaiah Malcome will try to keep up his hot streak, as he has scored a rushing touchdown in five straight games. Averaging 6.4 yards per carry, he will work alongside running back Trey Flowers to maintain a dangerous and exciting backfield.

The Quakers have won its last six matchups against Cornell, and will try to extend their streak.

Sprint Football

The Red and Blue (5-1) will host the final game of their season on Saturday night against Navy (6-0), one of the team’s most formidable opponents to date. The team has been on fire this season, winning five straight games and scoring a whopping 50.4 points per game in that span. 

Junior quarterback Andrew Paolini has thrown 18 touchdowns and only one interception through the season. Additionally, running back Laquan McKever has run for 11 touchdowns. As the team closes out the season against the undefeated Navy, it will look to keep its fantastic offense rolling as the defense helps seal the victory.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer team has its Senior Night and final home game on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Quakers (7-4-3, 1-2-2 Ivy) will battle against Princeton (10-5, 5-0) and attempt to hand the Tigers their first conference loss.

The Red and Blue have had a tough couple of conference games after their 2-1 win against Temple, tying to Yale and losing to Brown. With a win against Princeton, the team will even its conference record up before its final game at Harvard.

Women’s Soccer

Three hours before the men’s team takes Franklin Field, women’s soccer (9-4-2, 3-3 Ivy) will look to maintain a perfect home record as they also play against the nationally ranked Princeton Tigers (13-2-1, 5-1). The Quakers will look to come back after an 0-2 loss to nationally ranked Brown (11-3, 6-0) snapped a three-game win streak for the team.

The team will need to continue its offensive and defensive excellence at home to beat the nationally ranked team. The Quakers have scored 11 goals in their last three home games. Sophomore goalkeeper Laurence Gladu will try to add on to an already fantastic season, recording five or more saves in three of her last four games. 

Field Hockey

Field hockey (8-7, 4-2) faces Dartmouth (4-12, 0-6) at noon on Saturday to close its season out. A win would give the Red and Blue a three-game winning streak to end the season with, following their shutouts against Columbia and Temple.

Senior captain Maddy Fagan will enter the game with offensive momentum after scoring two goals against Temple last week. The team’s defense has been bolstered by good performances from fellow senior captain Gracyn Banks, as well as goalkeeper Sabien Paumen; the two players have won Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week two times combined, with Banks most recently winning it last week. Banks is currently leading the conference with five defensive saves.

Volleyball

Penn (6-13, 3-7 Ivy) will have two tough away games this weekend, playing at Yale (14-5, 7-3) on Friday evening and then Brown (16-4, 9-1) on Saturday evening. The Quakers lost in their previous matchups against the two teams.

Despite their losses, the Red and Blue will be coming into the game after an exciting victory against Harvard last week that went all the way to an 18-16 final set. The game saw amazing performances from Junior captain Autumn Leak, who had 21 kills and .421 hitting percentage, and Senior captain Margaret Planek, who recorded her third double-double in the past five matchups.

After this weekend’s matches, the Red and Blue will finish their season next week with two home games against Cornell (6-12, 2-8) and Columbia (5-15, 2-8).

Swimming

The men’s and women’s swimming teams are opening their season this year at home against Columbia. The women’s team will start at 5 p.m. on Friday, while the men’s team will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday. 

The men’s and women’s teams finished with 5-4 and 3-6 records, respectively, in the 2019-20 season. Both teams won their respective team titles at the Miami of Ohio Invitational in Feb. 2020. Later, during the Ivy League Championships, the men’s team placed seventh and the women’s team placed fourth. After more than a year away from meets, the teams will try to come out on top of the Ivy League this year.

Basketball

Both basketball teams will hold a Red and Blue scrimmage on Saturday morning. The women’s team will start at 10:30 a.m., and the men’s team will start after them at noon.

The men’s and women’s teams finished the 2019-20 season with 16-11 and 20-7 records, respectively. Both were poised to play Yale in the Ivy League tournament before COVID-19 resulted in a closing of the season. According to the Ivy League’s internal preseason polls, the men’s team is heading into the season ranked fourth in the conference, and the women’s team is ranked second.

Both teams will utilize their new additions, including new women’s assistant coach Kendall Grasela, to win the conference this season.