Penn’s 2023-24 collegiate sports season starts rockin’ and rollin’ on Friday, Aug. 25, as the women’s soccer team takes on American at 3 p.m. at Penn Park. A host of teams follow suit a week later on Friday, Sept. 1: men’s cross country, women’s cross country, volleyball, field hockey, and men’s soccer.
Several sports teams are coming off championships in 2022-23 and are looking to repeat or three-peat this season.
The reigning, defending Penn sports teams are:
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team won the Ivy League Championship in 2022 for the first time since 2013. The Quakers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 3-seeded Syracuse 2-1 in overtime. The Red & Blue finished the season with a 13-3-2 record, which tied for the second-most wins in program history.
Entering the 2023-24 campaign, Penn is ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll. Returning players include third-year forward Stas Korzeniowski, the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year; third-year defender Leo Burney, the defending Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year; fourth-year goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen, a Second-Team All-Ivy selection last season; and third-year defender Ben Do, a 2022 All-Ivy honorable mention.
The Quakers take on Fordham on Sept. 1 in New York. Their first home game is Saturday, Sept. 16, against Albany at Penn Park.
Women’s Golf
For only the second time in school history, the women’s golf team captured the Ivy League Championship last season, their first since 2010. Teeing off in the three-day, 54-hole conference Championships in April, the Quakers finished with a team score of 906, outperforming second-place Harvard (910), third-place Dartmouth (916), fourth-place Yale (918), fifth-place Princeton (919), and sixth-place Columbia (953). (Brown and Cornell do not field varsity women’s golf teams.)
Second-year Julie Shin, third-year Natalie Cao, and second-year Bridget O’Keefe are all back for another title run. O’Keefe finished third at the Championships and was a First-Team All-Ivy awardee. Cao and Shin earned Second-Team All-Ivy recognition. Head Coach Mark Anderson was the Ivy League Coach of the Year.
On Saturday, Sept. 16, Penn begins play at the Princeton Invitational in New Jersey.
Gymnastics
The gymnastics team is looking to pull off the rare three-peat this upcoming season. They won both the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) regular season title and the GEC Championship in 2022 and 2023. The Quakers went 7-2 during the 2023 GEC regular season and won the GEC Championship with a point total of 194.925.
Second-year Marissa Lassiter, last season’s GEC Newcomer of the Year, is back in action, along with fourth-year Kiersten Belkoff, fourth-year Sara Kenefick, fourth-year Kristen Kuhn, and fourth-year Campbell Marr, all First-Team All-Ivy selections in 2023. Head Coach Kirsten Becker is the reigning GEC Coach of the Year and assistant coaches Casey Rohrbaugh and Cassie Hageman are both coming off GEC Assistant Coach of the Year honors.
On Jan. 6, the Quakers begin their season at the Keystone Classic in Pittsburgh.
Women’s Lacrosse
The women’s lacrosse team’s 2023 Ivy League championship was its 14th in program history and first since 2016. The Red & Blue defeated Yale 15-14 in overtime in the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament at Penn Park. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to No. 2-ranked Boston College 9-7. Penn finished the season as the 13th-ranked team in the country. They had a 14-5 record overall and a perfect 7-0 mark in Ivy League play.
Standout players suiting up this season include third-year midfielder Anna Brandt, the defending Ivy League Midfielder of the Year; fourth-year defender Izzy Rohr, the reigning Ivy League Defender of the Year; fourth-year attacker Niki Miles, the 2023 Ivy League Attacker of the Year. Brandt, Rohr, and Miles were all unanimous First-Team All-Ivy selections last season. Karin Corbett, the Lois S. Leitner Head Coach, was named Ivy League Coach of the Year.
The women’s lacrosse season starts in mid-February. Their 2024 schedule has not yet been released.
Baseball
The baseball team in 2023 clinched their first undisputed regular-season conference championship in 28 years, won the first-ever Ivy League Tournament, and advanced the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. The Quakers opened up a 13-0 lead in the first four innings of the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game against Princeton at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium, en route to a dominating 16-3 victory. After upsetting Auburn and topping Samford, the Quakers were defeated by Southern Miss 11-7 in the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament. They finished the season 34-16, the most wins in school history.
Returning to the diamond this season are third-year pitcher Ryan Dromboski, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, fourth-year third baseman Wyatt Henseler, fourth-year pitcher Cole Zaffiro, second-year infielder Davis Baker, fourth-year pitcher Carson Ozmer, and second-year infielder Jarrett Pokrovsky. Henseler and Zaffiro were First-Team All-Ivy selections last season. Davis, Ozmer, and Pokrowsky were Second-Team All-Ivy awardees.
The baseball season starts in late February. Their schedule has not yet been released.
