PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (7-3-2, 1-3-1) travels to Northwestern (4-6-2, 1-4-0) on Friday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) at Lanny & Sharon Martin Stadium and live on Big Ten+. The Scarlet Knights play their first of three consecutive road matches before the regular season finale at home on Oct. 31.

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HOW TO FOLLOW: Big Ten+ | Live Stats

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PREVIOUSLY ON ... 

• Rutgers surrendered the Golden Goal in double-overtime to Michigan State (5-5-2, 1-2-1), handing the Spartans a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.
• Sophomore defender Cole Sotack equalized for Rutgers in the 52^nd minute after the Spartans took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a marker in the 30^th.
• Michigan State broke the tie in the second overtime period in the 107^th minute of play.

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SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Northwestern heads into the stretch run at 4-6-2 overall and 1-4-0 in the Big Ten with a 1-0 win over last-place Ohio State last Sunday, Oct. 3. The Wildcats are averaging a goal per game in conference play, but have given up an average of two through five Big Ten match days. Justin Weiss leads the attack with 12 points on five goals and two assists, including three goals and an assist in conference play. Vicente Castro paces the Wildcats with four assists, while Misa Miskovic minds the net with a 4-4-1 record, a 1.08 goals-against average, and a .767 save percentage.

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HISTORY VS. NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats own a 5-4 edge in the head-to-head series dating back to Rutgers' entry into the Big Ten in 2014. The previous four regular season contests are tied at two apiece with each going to the home team, including last Spring's 1-0 Rutgers victory in Piscataway on Kyle Galloway's goal off Gabriel Addo's assist. Rutgers is looking for its first win in Evanston since 2015.

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THE YOUNG GUNS: First-year student-athletes and New Jersey natives Joey Zalinsky, Matthew Acosta, and Nico Rosamilia represent the Rutgers men on the Top Drawer Soccer Freshmen Top 100 midseason rankings. Rutgers is one of 11 schools across NCAA Division I to have three or more players on the ranked list.

• No. 21 Zalinsky has played in 11 of Rutgers' first 12 matches of the 2021 season with 10 starts on the backline while contributing to six RU shutouts, which ranks 14^th in the nation as of Oct. 13.
• No. 51 Acosta has been a mainstay in Jim McElderry's lineup with a call to the Starting XI in all 12 games to start his collegiate career. The freshman picked up his first collegiate assist in the 1-0 victory over Penn on Sept. 20, and added his second helper on the goal against Michigan State on Oct. 10.
• No. 78 Rosamilia is the Scarlet Knights' leading scorer through 12 match days with seven points on three goals and an assist. He has played in all 12 contests with six nods to the starting lineup. The freshman recorded his first collegiate point in his very first game with an assist in the season opening victory over Delaware, then scored his first two career goals with a brace in the 2-1 Saint Joseph's victory on Sept. 13. Rosamilia made it three scores in two games with the opening tally in the 2-1 upset victory at then-No. 11 Indiana on Sept. 17.

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SPREAD THE LOVE: When Cole Sotack scored his first collegiate goal against Michigan State on Sunday, he became the ninth different Scarlet Knight to tally a score and 10th different Rutgers player to record a point in 2021. Following Rosamilia's three goals, senior captain Pablo Avila and junior Jackson Temples have two apiece, while captain Thomas DeVizio, Ola Maeland, Ritchie Barry, Vincent Borden, Anthony O'Donnell and Sotack have all found the back of the net this Fall. Acosta is one of three Scarlet Knights with multiple assists this season.

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RAKING IN THE HONORS: Rutgers has earned a Big Ten Player of the Week honor in four of the first six weeks to start the 2021 season. Nico Rosamilia won the Offensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 14. Thomas DeVizio was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for his two assists in the win over Lehigh from Sept. 10. It was the second national honor of the season, joining Oren Asher's College Soccer News Team of the Week distinction from Sept. 7.

Asher is a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Asher and the defense are one of just two teams in NCAA Division I to post four shutouts in their first four matches of the season. Asher was the only goalkeeper in the nation with 380 minutes played and no goals allowed to start the season. Asher is tied for third in the nation with six shutouts, while Rutgers ranks 23rd in the nation and second in the Big Ten with a 0.70 goals-against average.

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OUT OF CONFERENCE IS IN: The season opener against Delaware was Rutgers' first non-conference match in 667 days. Last time RU had a non-conference slate, the Scarlet Knights went 6-1-2 out of conference for its fifth-best non-league winning percentage in school history.

Rutgers is now 11-1-3 in non-conference action under head coach Jim McElderry.

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SPRING BACK: Head coach Jim McElderry guided Rutgers not only through a nontraditional pandemic season, but also posted four Big Ten wins and finished in fifth place in the conference along the way - both tying program highs since joining the league in 2014. The conference-only campaign finished 4-4-1 and included historic wins for RU: a first-ever victory in seven tries against Michigan State and the program's first triumph over Maryland since 1995. The season ended with a touch of heartbreak as Maryland outlasted the Scarlet Knights, 5-4, in a penalty shootout at the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals following a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes.

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RU EXPERIENCED?: The vast majority of the group that found so much success last Spring is back for the Fall. The Scarlet Knights welcome back 10 returning starters. In all, 19 players who saw action last Spring return for the Fall, making up 24 of the 27 points scored and 91 percent of the minutes played throughout the roster. Rutgers returns some hardware with graduate student striker Ritchie Barry staying on for his fifth year after being named All-Big Ten Second Team in the Spring.

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NEW KIDS "ON THE BANKS": McElderry recruited seven freshmen and three transfers to make up 10 newcomers on the 2021 Fall roster. Xavi Olmos is a grad transfer from Florida International, while Jason Bouregy (American) and Jace Orvos (Penn State) transfer in as sophomores. The seven first-years include five New Jersey natives - Matthew Acosta, Aurie Briscoe, Bryan Keating, Nico Rosamilia, and Joey Zalinsky - along with Adam Davies from Pennsylvania and Aidan Flynn from the Portland Timbers Academy.


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