Penn men’s soccer reopens Rhodes Field with win over No. 3 Pitt

Penn men’s soccer reopened one of the finest venues in college soccer with a 1-0 upset win over No. 3 Pitt to open their 2024 campaign.

It was the first game at Rhodes Field since a 6-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on September 18, 2022. Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams moved to the artificial surface of Penn Park for home games due to the $70 million expansion and renovation of the adjacent Hollenback Center.

“It’s a fun place to play; it’s a very unique setting and I think our guys really take a lot of pride in this being our home facility,” head coach Brian Gil said of Rhodes Field post-game. “It’s got a little bit of a Wrigley, Fenway Park type feel to it and we’ve embraced some of the little imperfections of it but it also creates the atmosphere you can get when the support is there.”

A crowd of 300 packed the stands for the occasion, including a number of Pitt fans there to cheer on Philadelphia Union Academy grad Jackson Gilman, a junior defender who is one of the team’s captains.

Pitt was coming in off a 2-1 win at Penn State and a home win over Division 1 newcomer Mercyhurst after beating No. 16 Georgetown 2-0 to open the season.

Playing in their first official game of the season, the Quakers started out on the front foot and were able to test Pitt keeper Jason Moxom, forcing him into three saves in the early stages of the game. Pitt looked dangerous with the ball but Penn looked more threatening on their counter than Pitt did trying to make a final pass. Penn senior Leo Burney and sophomore Connor Dawson did well combining in the heart of the defense and central midfielder Aaron Messer was disruptive on both sides of the ball.

GOAL Quakers. The sub Jack Wagoner scores just after checking in. pic.twitter.com/yKtrIRRp3l

— Philadelphia Soccer Now (@phlsoccernow) September 1, 2024

It was substitute Jack Wagoner who would have the moment of the match seconds after checking in when he was able to fire a low shot that caught the inside of the net at the far post in the 43rd minute. It was the first goal of the senior’s career and came off a great play from Messer, who slid to hit the ball to him in stride in the box. Senior Brandon Curran (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) also played a key part in the goal, pouncing on a loose ball from a 50-50 challenge in the corner between Pitt’s Luis Sahmkow and Pierce Wagner.

“It felt great; it took me a second, second a half to process what happened,” said Wagoner, a junior from Greenville, South Carolina. “That was such a great feeling, seeing the fans go crazy, everybody run over and give me hugs. It’s an experience that I’ve been waiting for for a long time and hope to replicate that this season.”

With the 1-0 lead Penn was more selective in taking chances but when they came it was Moxom there to deny and keep his team within striking distance. For long stretches of the second half the ball was in Penn’s half with Gilman playing quarterback playing the ball wide and breaking lines with his passing. Gilman, a Schwenksville native, was also active on set pieces and had one headed attempt off a corner sail high of the net. Charlie Gaffney was played in on the left side of the goal for a 1v1 chance in the 80th minute but Moxom was able to make the diving stop to keep it a one-goal game. Stas Korzeniowski, a 2024 MLS SuperDraft pick by the Philadelphia Union, was also active in the attack, registering 3 shots on goal for a Quaker team that despite conceding more of the ball had 8 shots on goal to Pitt’s 2.

“We feel confident that we have certain attributes in the team that can represent themselves well in bigger games like this,” Gil said. “We wanted to try to see what we had up against a team that is very good and see where we could also match them in certain areas. We weren’t overly surprised we could create some chances, we also knew that we were going to be dealing with some of their intricate play and chances against. I thought we weathered that appropriately at times and obviously got some luck when we needed it too.”

Up next, Penn hosts Temple for a Friday night clash at Rhodes at 7 p.m.