Year in Review: Fall Sports recap

This year marked the second year in Ivy League sports on return from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic pause. Throughout the fall, Penn's teams set records (both good and bad), won titles, and often improved on their prior campaigns. With the 2022 season in the books, and as the calendar prepares to turn, here is all you need to know about Penn’s fall sports. 

Men's soccer

Coach Brian Gill’s fourth year with the program saw the Quakers post their best season under his tenure, finishing with a 12-2-2 regular season record while going 6-1 in Ivy League play. The mark was good enough for Penn’s first Ivy title and NCAA tournament berth since 2013. 

In the first round of the tournament, the Quakers defeated Rutgers 3-0, but that Sunday, their season came to an end with a 2-1 overtime defeat at No. 3 Syracuse. Throughout the season, the Quakers were led by the goal-scoring tandem of senior forward Ben Stitz and sophomore forward Stas Korzeniowski, who led the Ivy League with 11 goals each. 

Stitz, Korzeniowski, sophomore defender Leo Burney, and senior midfielder Isaac McGinnis were named to the NCAA Division I Northeast All-Region team. In the net, senior goalkeeper Nick Christofferson led the conference with only 14 goals allowed and played a key role in the Quakers’ eight shutouts this season. 

Women's soccer

Women’s soccer couldn’t replicate the success of last year’s 9-5-2 season, finishing with a disappointing 3-6-7 overall record, including a 0-5-2 record in conference. 

Early in the season, the Quakers stayed competitive and recorded a series of ties against Temple, Maryland, and Villanova to start the year. However, as the season progressed, Penn faltered — including losing its final five games, all in-conference — to drop to the bottom of the Ivy standings table by the end of the season. 

Despite the worrisome record, three Quakers received All-Ivy honors: junior goalkeeper Laurence Gladu, junior defender Ginger Fontenot, and senior midfielder/forward Sizzy Lawton, who led the team in both goals and assists with four each. 

Men's cross country

The season started off strong, with a trio of top-half team finishes at the season’s first three meets. Yet, the team placed sixth out of eight at the Ivy League Heptagonals in October. 

Senior Michael Keehan led the team at that meet, finishing 21st overall. At the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, Penn came in eighth out of 26, led again by Keehan, who finished 31st overall at the competition. Keehan was also the only Quaker to receive Ivy League recognition, when he was awarded his first conference All-Academic honor. 

Women's cross country

Throughout the season, the Quakers ranked consistently in the top half of all of their meets — punctuated by an early-season victory at the Main Line Invitational, where sophomore Bronwyn Patterson placed first overall. 

Penn claimed third place at the Ivys Heps. Junior Maeve Stiles placed third overall with a 6K time of 20:58.5, and senior Lizzy Bader also finished in the top 10. At the NCAA regional championships, Stiles placed fourth overall and set a new program record at 20:15.3. Her mark was good enough to qualify her for the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championship, where she placed 60th overall. Stiles’ season earned her first team All-Ivy and conference All-Academic recognition, while Bader and freshman Lily Murphy joined her on the All-Ivy second team. 

Men's golf

In men’s golf’s first half of the season, its first under new coach Clay White, the Quakers struggled to claim consistent success — placing third and fourth in the Cornell/Temple Invitational and Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate, respectively. 

However, in the other three opens the team played this fall, it came out in the bottom half of the standings, including a last-place finish in the Hamptons Intercollegiate to close out the fall season. In each tournament except one, senior Mark Haghani led the team, which included a fifth-place finish at the season-opening Alex Lagowitz Memorial. Men’s golf is currently on pause for the winter, and play will resume again in March. 

Women's golf

The women’s golf team scored around the middle of the pack in its first two competitions. The Quakers then faced off against Ivy League and ACC competition at the Ivy Intercollegiate in mid-October. 

On the first day of the competition, Penn came in 11th of 12, finishing only ahead of Dartmouth. And on the second day, all five Quakers lost their individual head-to-head matchups against ACC opponents. Throughout the season, Penn has been led by freshmen Julie Shin and Bridget O’Keefe, who stand to improve in the spring season and in the rest of their Quaker careers. 

Field hockey

Penn field hockey finished the season with a 7-10 overall and 4-3 Ivy League record, a slight step down after last season’s 9-7 and 5-2 marks. 

After an extremely tough non-conference schedule, which saw the Quakers play No. 1 Northwestern, No. 2 UNC-Chapel Hill, and No. 9 Louisville in their first five games, Penn barely had a respite before beginning conference play with narrow losses at Princeton and against Harvard. 

The team rebounded well, though, winning six out of eight to end the year fourth in the Ivy standings. Sophomore midfielder/defender Courtney Kenah led the team with seven goals, while senior defender/midfielder Gracyn Banks notched a team-high five assists. Banks was named first team All-Ivy for the season, while Kenah received second team recognition. 

Football

Penn football pulled off a nigh-miraculous one-year turnaround this season, going from 3-7 in 2021 to 8-2 and second in the Ivy League in 2022. 

In sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin’s first year as a full-time starter, working with new offensive coordinator Dan Swanstrom, the Quaker offense improved from last year in many significant ways while the defense remained stout, despite losing Prince Emili to the NFL. Additionally, coach Ray Priore's aggressive game-management decisions often paid off, with the Quakers converting over half of its fourth-down attempts.

The early part of the season was punctuated by a double-overtime win over Dartmouth to begin Ivy play and a homecoming game victory against Yale, the eventual Ivy champion. Toward the end of the season, the team struggled against Brown and Harvard, but pulled out a last-second victory at Princeton to close out the year. Following the season, seven Quakers — including senior offensive lineman Trevor Radosevich and senior defensive lineman Jake Heimlicher — were named first team All-Ivy. 

Sprint Football

The Quakers finished the season 3-4, a two-game drop-off from last year’s 5-2 mark. A narrow loss at St. Thomas Acquinas presaged Penn’s defeats to the service academies, a pair of losses at the hands of Army and Navy where the Quakers were outscored a combined 82-14. But in its three wins, the Quaker defense shined, allowing an average of under five points per game against Alderson Broaddus, Chestnut Hill, and Cornell. 

Penn had 11 players earn All-CSFL honors, while sophomore defensive back/specialist Adrian Montemayor was named CSFL Special Teams Player of the Year for his work as a punter and placekicker. 

Volleyball

One year after going 8-15 in coach Meredith Schamun’s first year, the Quakers recorded the worst season in program history, going 2-22 overall and 1-13 in Ivy League play. Penn's struggles continued throughout the entire season, losing 10 matches in straight sets, including five in a row at one point. 

Freshman libero Abigail Reid was the only Penn player with All-Ivy honors this year, earning an honorable mention after leading the team in sets played and digs, where she notched over twice as many as any other Quaker. 

Men's lightweight rowing

The lightweight rowing team got its season off to a strong start this fall, coming in second, third, and fifth at the Navy Day Regatta. The Quakers also had the fastest American college boat at the Head of the Charles, and closed out the fall season with third- and fifth-place finishes at the Princeton Chase. These three results leave Penn’s lightweights in good position for the spring season, when the Quakers can make use of the newly-renovated Burk-Bergman boathouse. 

Men's heavyweight rowing

In its first season since coach Al Monte arrived at Penn from Dartmouth, Penn’s heavyweight team began its 2022-23 campaign on a proficient note. At the Navy Day Regatta to open the season, the Quakers finished first and third.

But after that, Penn has faltered slightly, including 10th and 18th place finishes for Eights at the Princeton Chase. Penn still has a strong chance to be in the mix, though, once the rowing season resumes in the spring. 

Women’s rowing

Just like both men’s squads, women’s rowing had a robust fall season. At the Navy Day Regatta, the Quakers came in first and second place in the Eights and comfortably won the Fours as well. The next weekend, Penn’s Fours placed second among American colleges, while the Eights were first among that category. 

To close out the fall season, Penn’s success continued at the Princeton Chase, where the Varsity Eight topped its division by posting a time nearly 15 seconds ahead of the second-place team. The victory marked the first time in the event's history that Princeton did not win its own race.