Goalkeeper Hudson Blatteis ’24 wasn’t expected to be on the field much this season for the men’s soccer team (4-4-4, 1-0-3 Ivy). But after an error from starter Henrik Weiper ’26 in an early season match against Cornell, Head Coach Chase Wileman made a switch. In came Blatteis who, in his first career appearance, kept Cornell scoreless for the next 70 minutes, helping the Bears earn a 1-1 draw. Blatteis has stuck between the sticks since, allowing only two goals in four games.
Most recently, in Brown’s Saturday night home match against defending Ivy champions Penn (3-3-5, 1-1-2 Ivy), Blatteis was the hero, sliding to break up a one-on-one opportunity and securing a crucial diving save on a penalty kick in the second half.
“I think at that point in the season we had given up a lot of goals, and that's not necessarily on the goalkeeper, but … we'd given away too many goals,” Wileman said of the goalie change against Cornell. “And then in the Cornell game in particular there was a mistake. So that's when I made the change. And also we were kind of not really getting consistent results at that time. So it was trying to get a spark a little bit in the team.”
Against Penn on Saturday, Blatteis’s performance preserved a 0-0 draw for the Bears against a Penn team that was favored to repeat as Ivy champions in the conference’s preseason poll.
In a physical contest with few chances for either side, the Bears outshot the Quakers 10 to five but couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities.
Wileman said he was “definitely not happy with the draw.”
“It’s a frustrating one again,” he said, “because I just feel like we didn't quite reach our performance levels. And I think we let Penn off the hook a little bit.”
Brown got one of its best chances in the 20th minute. After a pass from Kojo Dadzie ’24 was intercepted in the box, the ball pinballed around before popping out to midfielder Langdon Gryglas ’26, who rifled a volley that was tipped over the bar by Penn goalie Nick Christofferson.
The next chance went to the Quakers five minutes later. Penn center-back Leo Burney played a long ball over the top for forward Charlie Gaffney, who had run behind the Brown defense. Gaffney took a touch, and with the ball still bouncing, Blatteis came charging out of the penalty box, lunging into a split while sliding to nick the ball away. With Blatteis well out of his net, the ball fell to Penn forward Stas Korzeniowski, but tight marking from Brown center-back Taha Kina ’24 prevented Korzeniowski from getting off a shot.
In the 58th minute, Blatteis made an even better save. Defender Tanner Barry ’25 brought down Korzeniowski in the penalty box with minimal contact, leading the referee to point to the spot. Korzeniowski, the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, stepped up, hitting the penalty inside the right post. Blatteis guessed correctly, leaving his position far before Korzeniowski made contact to parry the shot away.
The team "watches a lot of film on old penalties,” Blatteis said. I “knew he had a trend to go that way, but (I) just had a feeling, and I tend to go pretty early. But I guessed the right way, and it worked out.”
With just nine minutes to play, Dadzie created a chance out of nothing for the Bears. He dribbled to the end line through four Penn defenders and then played a pass to forward Jamin Gogo Peters ’26, whose poke was saved by Christofferson.
Barry had the best chance in the game’s final minutes. A cross from forward Lorenzo Amaral ’27 fell at the back post to Barry, who took a touch forward and from in close, fired a shot over the bar.
“I think obviously, collectively as a team and then for myself, we need to capitalize on opportunities,” Barry said.
Combined with the draw, Yale’s loss at Harvard gave Bruno sole possession of third place. Sitting on six points, Brown stands in a strong position to finish in the top four in the conference and qualify for the Ivy League postseason tournament. But with the Ivy League’s top seven teams separated by only four points, Bruno has little margin for error. After its final non-conference game against the University of Rhode Island on Tuesday, Brown will conclude Ivy play with games against Princeton, Dartmouth and Yale.
Brown has still allowed just one goal in Ivy League play, a marked improvement from its defense in pre-conference play.
“I think it's just a mentality change over the past couple of games,” Barry said. It's “just tightening up in the back, limiting individual mistakes and then just working collectively as a group.”
For his efforts, Blatteis was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. Blatteis has “done amazing since he's come in, and he also is probably the hardest worker on the team,” Wileman said. “That's what happens when you work hard and you continue to get better and you just trust in the process. And then also when you get an opportunity, you have to take it. And he has.”
“It's obviously scary,” Blatteis said of being named the starter midseason. “But I think I was ready. I'd been working really hard to get where I am. And I feel like I'm just not trying to do anything crazy — just doing what I can do and controlling what I can. I feel like it's gone well so far.”
