October is perhaps one of the most exciting months in sports, as the buildup towards the World Series crosses paths with an accelerating NFL season, and engines are just beginning to rev in the NBA and NHL. Here at Penn, several fall sports teams are barrelling forward in exciting win streaks, while some teams are just picking up the keys to claiming consistent victories.
Field Hockey
Field hockey (3-8) handed Cornell its first Ivy League loss of the season on Friday with a 2-0 shutout win. The Quakers' scoring was led by their senior captains Gracyn Banks and Meghan Ward. Banks found the back of the cage off a penalty stroke just under five minutes into the third quarter. Penn added to the lead with 10 minutes left in the game when Ward tipped a pass from Sophie Freedman.
The Quakers outshot the Big Red 10 to nine, with seven of those shots coming in the third quarter. Sophomore goalkeeperFrederique Wollaert made four saves in the shutout performance, earning her third win of the season and second consecutive shutout. All of Penn’s wins have come on shutouts thus far.
The victory marks their first Ivy League victory of the season, as they look for their second against Brown, Saturday at noon.
Football
Penn football(4-0) defeated Georgetown (1-5) Saturday in a 59-28 blowout, continuing a dominant 4-0 start to the season. Everything seemed to fall into place for the Quakers, even from the opening kickoff when a 43-yard return from senior running back Jonathan Mulatu led to an early field goal.
Quarterback Aidan Sayin contributed five total touchdowns, including four through the air to four different receivers. Senior running back Trey Flowers also continued his dominant start to the season with 149 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. The Quakers' offense finished with a season high 480 total yards.
On the other side of the ball, junior linebacker Jack Fairman’s early first quarter interception set up the Quaker’s first touchdown of the day. He also led Penn’s defense with eight total tackles.
With this victory over Georgetown, Penn finishes non-conference play undefeated, after wins over Lafayette and Colgate earlier in the season. The Quakers start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2003, and look to continue the streak, returning home to face Columbia (3-1), this Saturday at 1 p.m.
Soccer
Men’s soccer (7-1-1) extended its win streak to six games on Saturday, with a 2-0 shutout against Dartmouth (2-4-3). Less than a minute into the game, graduate student Ben Stitz found the back of the net, giving Penn a 1-0 lead. Stitz has now scored in six consecutive games, and is the only Quaker to accomplish this feat in the last 30 years.
After coming off the bench midway through the first half, junior midfielder Michael Hewes quickly found the back of the net in the 37th minute to give Penn the 2-0 lead. Hewes is now on his sixth goal in the last five games.
Two first-half goals proved to be enough as neither team was able to score in the second. Junior goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen was not very busy in net, facing only four shots en route to his second shutout of the season. In contrast, Penn’s 22 shots mark the fourth time this season the team has surpassed 20 shots in a game.
Men’s soccer looks to continue their dominant stretch as they take on Monmouth (6-4), Tuesday at 7 p.m.
On the women’s end, the Quakers fell just short, 2-1 to Columbia, after a late penalty kick put the Lions ahead.
Penn had early chances, with shots from sophomore forwards Isobel Glass and Janae Stewart, but they were turned aside by Columbia’s keeper. It took until the 61st minute when senior forward Sizzy Lawton was finally able to find the back of the net to hand the Quakers a 1-0 lead.
Columbia quickly responded, scoring in the 71st minute to tie the game. After a handball committed by Penn inside the box, Columbia capitalized on the penalty kick, taking the lead 2-1 in the 81st minute. The Quakers found themselves with little time left on the clock and could not overcome the late deficit.
Columbia outshot Penn 13-4 in the match as the Quakers suffered their first loss in the Ivy League this season. Women’s soccer falls to 3-2-7 but looks to bounce back as they travel to Dartmouth, Saturday at 3 p.m.
Sprint Football
Sprint football (2-2) returned to the win column after dropping two straight, winning a defensive battle 9-6 over Chestnut Hill (0-3). Penn's defense dominated, forcing five total turnovers and holding the Griffins to just 155 yards of total offense. Sophomore linebacker Matt McKillop led the defense with 1.5 sacks and both forced and recovered a fumble.
Despite being sacked seven times, senior quarterback Andrew Paolini threw for 269 yards, and a touchdown to freshman Brandon Graves. which became Graves' team-leading fourth touchdown of the season.
Sophomore defensive back Adrian Montemayor continued to showcase his versatility with his second interception of the season as well as kicking a 24-yard field goal to give Penn an early 3-0 lead. Now tied atop the CSFL south division with Navy, the Quakers go on the road and face Cornell Friday at 7 p.m.
Tennis
Men’s tennis hosted the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) northeast regionals this weekend. The event ran from Friday through Monday. The tournament included 18 schools and among them were fellow Ivies Cornell, Princeton, and Yale.
Eight Quakers competed in the tournament. Seven of the eight won their first-round matchups. Manfredi Graziani, Zach Lim, Zach Smith, and Matt Rutter were all able to earn a second-round victory but each were eliminated in the third.
The rest of the Ivy League fared better with at least one school featured in each of the eight round of 16 matches. Yale had the strongest showing in the tournament, with five Bulldogs making it to the round of 16.
Penn will have a few weeks off before gearing up to travel to Harvard for the ITA Super-Regionals from Oct. 21 through Oct. 24.
Volleyball
Volleyball (2-13) played two games this weekend. On Friday night the Quakers fell to Columbia 1-3, but on Saturday, Penn snapped an eleven-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Cornell.
Columbia jumped to a quick 2-0 win with a decisive 25-15 victory in the second set. Penn was able to avoid defeat with a 25-23 victory in the third set but it was too little too late as Columbia came storming back to win the fourth set 25-22, securing the 3-1 victory.
Against Cornell, Penn jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. After a close first set, the Quakers commanded the second and looked to run away with the game. However, Cornell came out the gate firing in the third and won the set 25-17. The fourth went back and forth but late in the set Cornell was able to take the lead and tie up the match 2-2. In the fifth, tied at 11-11, Penn called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, they were able to score four of the next five securing the set and the match victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Ella Green had a combined 25 kills on the weekend, 14 of them coming in Saturday’s victory. Senior outside hitter Autumn Leak also contributed 21 kills;13 of them in the winning effort against Cornell.
Penn looks to build off the win, as they travel to Brown Friday at 7 p.m.
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