With the semester coming to a close, it’s only fitting to take a look back at the fall sports season as several of the Red and Blue’s teams have found success on the conference and national stages as well as areas of growth to build upon in the offseason. Here’s a recap of how the teams fared this fall.
Football
After being ranked 3rd in the preseason poll the Quakers had a disappointing season, where they finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Ivy League.
The season continued their trend of one-possession losses, falling in their first two conference matchups to Dartmouth and Columbia. Their conference slump continued in a blowout loss to Yale. In the opening drive of that game, senior quarterback Aidan Sayin went out with a season-ending injury. Sayin finished his career as the program leader in completions with 719 and second in passing yards with 7177 yards.
With Sayin out, junior quarterback Liam O’Brien got the starting nod. He smashed the record books in Penn’s win against Cornell, where he threw six touchdowns and rushed for one. His seven are the most touchdowns attributed to a quarterback in a single game. The seven touchdowns led to 67 points for Penn.
In their last two games, they fell to Harvard on Homecoming by the way of a last-second field goal and to rival Princeton in their season closer.
The Princeton game not only served as the last for the seniors but also for sophomore running back Malachi Hosley. Hosley, a Walter Payton Award Finalist, entered the transfer portal the same day. He finished the season with 1192 yards — the most in the Ivy League.
The Quakers’ future stands uncertain as they look to rebuild in the offseason and get back to the top of the Ancient Eight.
Sprint Football
Spring football kicked off their season with a shutout against St. Thomas Aquinas — the first of three in their 5-2 season. For the first five games of the season, no one could stop Penn as they outscored opponents 162-27. The script flipped in their annual matchup against Collegiate Sprint Football League conference rival Navy, who defeated them 31-0. The heartbreak continued for Penn in their last match against Chestnut Hill where they fell in a very narrow 7-12 loss. The season was a marked improvement over last, where they went 2-4 overall.
Multiple players were honored for their accomplishments this season. Senior kicker/punter/defensive back Adrian Montemayor completed the three-peat and won Special Teams Player of the Year. Senior linebacker Cam Janock also had a remarkable year where he tallied 45 tackles and a team-leading 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. His stats earned him CSFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.
The team’s offense ran through the hands of freshman quarterback Michael Malone — the CSFL Rookie of the Year. He had a total of nine touchdowns on the year and completed 62 of his 131 attempts. He landed as an Honorable Mention All-CSFL.
While players like Montemayor and Janock graduate, players like Malone remain and will look to continue to trend upwards — and break a six-year losing streak against Navy.
Men’s Soccer
Penn men's soccer meant business coming into this season. The Quakers opened their season at home with a big upset over then-No. 3 Pitt that set the tone for the rest of the regular season: winning. The Red and Blue dominated the conference and claimed their third-straight Ivy League regular season title, finishing the regular season with a 14-4-1 overall record and 7-0 in Ivy League play.
The accolades came flooding in for the Quakers. Nine Quakers earned All-Ivy honors while senior defender Leo Burney and senior striker Stas Korzeniowski took home Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and Co-Offensive Player of the Year, respectively. Coach Brian Gill also collected Ivy League Coach of the Year. This is the second time this trio has received these respective awards — the first was in 2022 following the Quakers’ title-winning season.
In the postseason, the Quakers could not replicate their 2022 title and fell 3-1 to Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament final after defeating them the week prior. Not all was lost, though, as men’s soccer claimed the sixth seed in the NCAA tournament thanks to an at-large bid, but the Red and Blue could not complete the redemption arc on the national stage, as they were defeated 1-0 by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Although ending in disappointment, the Quakers can hold their heads high knowing that they were one of the best teams in the nation this season. Next fall, it will be interesting to see young talent shine as the program graduates seven seniors including stars Burney and Korzeniowski.
Women’s Soccer
While the season wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for women’s soccer, it did end on a high note. The team finished the season with an overall record of 2-8-6 and 1-3-3 in Ancient Eight play — the sole win in their final game against Cornell. This season-ending win is eerily similar to the conclusion of last season.
Two veterans shined for the Red and Blue for women’s soccer — junior goalkeeper Annabel Austen and senior defender and captain Maya Leschly. The two collected All-Ivy selection at the end of the season. Leschly helped lead the Quaker defense that was a highlight of the season even if it didn’t translate to success. Austen had the most saves and played the most minutes in the Ivy League. The junior also excelled in the classroom, collecting an Academic All-Ivy for the first time.
In the offseason, the Quakers will look to improve their offense as well as build up their young squad to hit the ground running when next fall comes.
Field Hockey
After a trip to the Ivy League Tournament, the team took a step back and missed the berth after going 2-5 in conference play — the reverse of their conference record from last year. All but one of their conference losses this season were decided by one goal, including three overtime games. With the standings so close, they were still in contention leading into their season finale against Brown but ultimately fell 3-4.
Two juniors shone offensively for the Red and Blue: midfielder/defender Julia Ryan and forward Livia Loozen. They had 18 and 14 points, respectively, and both led the team with six goals each. Ryan secured herself a second team and Academic All-Ivy selection. The other second team All-Ivy selection was senior midfielder Meghan McGinley, who had two defensive saves.
The most important departure is coach Colleen Fink, who has resigned after 15 years. She led the program to a 113-122 overall and 52-56 Ivy League record. As of now, field hockey is still unsure of who will be their head coach.
Volleyball
You need to be a high flyer to excel in volleyball and no program leapt higher than Penn this season. After going 4-20 overall and 2-12 in Ivy League play last season, Penn completely flipped the switch and had their first winning season since 2019.
The Quakers finished with a 13-10, 7-7 Ivy record. While they finished fifth in the standings and missed the postseason tournament, they had remarkable highs: snapping their 15-game losing streak against Princeton and setting a program-record 34 points in a win over Columbia.
The team’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Two players earned Honorable All-Ivy Mentions: sophomore outside hitter Zada Sanger and freshman middle Adell Murray. Sanger had a team-leading 260 kills, including 22 kills against Rhode Island. Murray in her debut season was third on the team with 209 kills.
With many of the major contributors of the run being underclassmen, Penn is poised to make another leap next season and hopefully land in the Ivy League Tournament.
Men’s Rowing
In the four-meet schedule fall season, both men’s heavyweight and lightweight running took to the waters. On the heavyweight side of things, they took home first place finishes in two divisions at the season-opening Navy Day Regatta. At Head of the Charles, they had a top finish of fifth in a field of 36 by their Club Eights boat, which includes senior Sam Sullivan, who earlier this fall was named Under 23 National Team Male Athlete of the Year by U.S. Rowing. The success continued at Head of the Schuylkill where they had five first-place finishes.
On the lightweight side, two boats took home first-place finishes at the Navy Day Regatta. They competed again at Head of the Charles and Princeton Chase. At the former, they took home the top two spots in the fours and third in the eights. At the latter, their top performance was a third place finish in the eights.
Women’s Rowing
Earlier this year, coach Wesley Ng left the program after guiding the team to three consecutive NCAA championship appearances. He was replaced by coach Bill Manning. In his first season, the team had a strong season of racing.
They opened at the Navy Day Regatta, where they had wins in four of the divisions — including two first-place finishes. They repeated that success at Head of the Schuylkill, where they won four out of five of their divisions. After a successful rowing season, the rowing team looks to the spring where they hope to return once again to the NCAA championships.
Men’s Cross Country
It’s always booked and busy for the athletes of cross country — especially as most will continue to compete in indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. The season was highlighted by the senior runners Luke Johnson and Dylan Throop competing at NCAA championships with Throop collecting All-American honors for his performance.
The Quakers opened their seasons with strong showings at the New Jersey Jam and Spiked Shoe Invite, and Johnson collected an early honor of Ivy League Men’s Athlete of the Week. At the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships, Throop led the charge for the Quakers — finishing runner-up in the 8k race in program-record-breaking fashion. At the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, Throop and Johnson crossed the finish line in third and sixth in the 10k to punch their tickets to Wisconsin for NCAA championships, where Throop finished 27th with All-American honors.
With the fall cross country season in the books, Throop and company will look to carry this momentum into the indoor and outdoor track and field season — the former highlighted by the recent opening of the Ott Center for Track and Field.
Women’s Cross Country
Compared to their male counterparts, women’s cross country had a quieter season, but young talent shined for the Red and Blue, making the future look very bright.
In their season opener at the New Jersey Jam, freshman runner L’Mio Edwards rallied in the last meters of the 4k to finish fourth — leading a second-place team finish at the invite. Fellow rookie Olivia Williams crossed the finish line just behind for sixth. At the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships, Williams led the charge for the Red and Blue and finished 18th for a personal best in the 6k — good for highest finish for the team.
While not the most exciting season, the sky's the limit for the young talent of women’s cross country, who will also continue to compete in indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
Men’s Golf
Men’s golf had some ups and downs throughout the season, but ultimately, they ended on a high note with a Big 5 championship.
In their season opener, the Quakers tied for sixth at the Lagowitz Memorial. Sophomore Max Fonseca led the Red and Blue as the low scorer — finishing at two-under-par 14 for sixth place. At their next outing at Temple Invite, the Quakers finished second, and this time, senior Ben Scott led the charge as the team’s low scorer. The team collected two ninth-place finishes at the next invites before ending the season on a high note with a Big 5 championship. Fonseca and fellow sophomore Hayden Adams shone for the Quakers — both of them shooting five-over-par 75.
Men’s golf is taking a break with the rest of the Penn community until the spring where the young talent and veterans will look to continue their success.
Women’s Golf
The team returned to green in a set of four matches this fall, where they took home first in two of them: the Bucknell Invitational and Quinnipiac Classic. They had fifth-place finishes at the other two tournaments.
They put on a clinic at the Bucknell Invitational, where they took home five of the top six individual spots and had a 32-stroke victory as a team. The top finisher of the day was senior Debby Chang, who did not miss a beat in her gap year and shot seven over par.
At the Quinnipiac Classic, they had another sweep in a narrow one-stroke finish over Boston College. Freshman Claire Lu took home the individual title at the tournament, where she shot eight over par for a final score of 224. Right behind her at 226 was junior Bridget O’Keefe, who finished tied with two other golfers.
With spring on the horizon, the team will look to build off their success to reclaim the Ivy League title, which they last captured in 2023.
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