Many Penn sports have been looking up or tracking through a positive groove as the fall season rumbles toward its peak. Ivy League conference games are also beginning to stack many Quakers' schedules, and this past weekend marked a revival of Ancient Eight rivalries for the 2022 fall season.
Football
Penn football continued its dominant start to the season, shutting out the Lafayette Leopards (1-3) 12-0 on Saturday. Following its win against Colgate in the season opener, the Quakers are on their first 2-0 start since 2018.
Penn’s defense has so far held its opponents scoreless for six consecutive quarters, stretching back to the second half of their victory against Colgate. The defensive success is in large part due to senior defensive lineman Jake Heimlicher who led the defense, earning 10 total tackles and a sack. Heimlicher and the Quakers’ defense held Lafayette to one-yard rushing and sacked the Leopards' quarterbacks Ryan Schuster and Rent Montie five times.
Penn’s biggest play of the day came on a 57-yard completion to sophomore receiver Julien Stokes that sparked the Quakers’ offense late in the first quarter, setting up a one-yard touchdown grab for sophomore tight end Justin Cayenne.
Sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin turned in another strong performance, throwing for 196 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. Penn football begins its conference schedule as the team heads off to face Dartmouth Friday at 7 p.m.
Soccer
Women's soccer (2-1-6) tied the undefeated Harvard Crimson (6-0-2), 1-1 on Saturday, after a Sara Readinger header knotted up the score in the 58th minute.
Despite getting outshot 26-8, the team was able to tie the No. 16-ranked Crimson in large part thanks to junior goalie Laurence Gladu. Her diving save in the 71st minute held the score even at one, and helped the Quakers secure their sixth tie of the season.
Readinger’s goal, assisted by midfielder Sizzy Lawton, came just a minute after Harvard’s Sophie Hirst put the Crimson up 1-0. Coming into the game, Lawton had assisted or scored 44% of the team's goals. The team takes on Cornell (1-5-3) Saturday at 1 p.m.
In its final tune-up before Ivy League play, Men’s soccer shut out DePaul (3-2-3) 3-0 on Sunday, behind two goals from midfielder Ben Stitz.
Penn dominated offensively, outshooting DePaul 17-8. Junior midfielder Michael Hewes started the scoring for the Quakers in the 31st minute with a strike from inside the 18-yard box. It marked Hewes’ fifth goal in the last three games.
Stitz added insurance with goals in the 58th and 62nd minutes. Goalie Nick Christoffersen secured the team's second shutout in three games with three saves, including handling a free kick in the 67th minute to hold DePaul scoreless.
The Quakers look to continue the winning streak as they travel to New Haven, Conn. to take on Yale at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Sprint Football
Sprint football (1-1) fell to St. Thomas Aquinas College (1-0) 21-17 on Saturday, despite leading for most of the game.
After being named CSFL Rookie of the Week, wide receiver Brandon Graves scored the first touchdown of the game on a 36-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Paolini. However, after the initial touchdown, the Spartans were able to lock up the freshman, limiting him to just one more reception.
Another freshman, Levi Gans, led the rushing attack for the Quakers, running for 76 yards on 15 carries. Penn took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter, but midway through the fourth, the team found themselves down 21-17 after a seven-minute drive by the Spartans. The Quakers had an opportunity to regain the lead with under two minutes remaining, but a fumble from Paolini all but sealed the team's fate. Sprint football looks to right the ship as it hosts Army at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Tennis
Men’s tennis turned in another strong performance this weekend at the Princeton Farnsworth Invitational.
The Quakers facing Tulsa, Princeton, LSU, and Michigan State respectively over four days. The team was 26-19 overall on the weekend in both singles and doubles play.
Harsh Parikh, Baylor Sai, Edoardo Graziani, and Kevin Zhu led the way for the Quakers, all finishing the weekend 3-0. Freshman Kian Vakili continued the strong start to his Penn career, going 2-1 in singles and doubles play after going 3-0 at the Penn Invitational last weekend. The team now heads to Tulsa, Okla. for the ITA Men's All-American Championships, Oct. 1 through Oct. 9.
Women’s tennis hosted the 25th annual Cissie Leary Invitational this weekend, facing off against Drexel, Richmond, and Temple. Columbia, Princeton, and Delaware were also a part of the three-day event. Sabine Rutlauka led the way for the Quakers, winning all three of her singles matches.
Freshman Maya Urata also turned in a strong performance, going 2-1 in both singles and doubles play. Penn finished the weekend 10-6 in singles and 5-4 in doubles play. The team is set to travel to Princeton, N.J. next weekend for the Northeast Regionals as they begin their ITA match schedule.
Field Hockey
Penn field hockey (1-7) earned its first win of the season, defeating No. 24-ranked Temple (7-3) in a 2-0 shutout.
Goalie Frederique Wollaert, after a strong showing last weekend against No. 1-ranked Northwestern, held back the Owls’ attack, earning her first career shutout.
Neither team was able to muster much offense until the beginning of the fourth quarter, when captain Meghan Ward put one in the cage for the Quakers. In the 56th, Courtney Kenah added another to secure the victory. Seven of Penn’s eight shots came in the fourth quarter alone.
The first win of their season also marked the Quakers' first victory over a ranked team since 2018. The team looks to continue to turn things around as it plays host to Harvard at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Golf
Women’s golf traveled to New Jersey this weekend to compete in the Princeton Invitational, placing fourth. Bridget O’Keefe led the way for the Quakers, finishing tied for seventh. O’Keefe ended one over par on the weekend after shooting 69 in her final round.
The first round of the tournament was Penn’s best, as they finished a combined 293. Susan Xiao had the lowest round of the day for the Quakers, shooting one under par. Penn finished a combined 890 strokes, 12 behind third-place Georgetown.
Individually, Princeton’s Yanjun Liu won the tournament shooting nine under par. The team will return to New Jersey to compete in the Ivy Intercollegiate from Oct. 10-Oct. 11.
Just a few hours north, Men’s golf placed eighth in Yale’s Macdonald Cup. Penn finished nine strokes behind Fairfield, and just one stroke ahead of Bucknell. The team improved every round shooting 378, 364, and 352, respectively, to finish with 1,094 overall.
Mark Haghani and Jimin Jung shot 216 apiece and were the Quakers’ low scorers for the weekend, both finishing tied for 25th. Haghani along with Harrison Ornstein and John Richardson all had rounds of even par, the lowest single-round scores of the weekend for Penn. Men’s golf will travel to New York for the Hamptons Intercollegiate, its final tournament of the fall season.
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