Starting XI: Men’s Soccer at UConn

Oct 26 | Men's Soccer

Watch on FloFC Live Stats

The 11 things to know before the Scarlet Knights travel to Storrs on Wednesday to wrap up non-conference play

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (8-4-2) travels to UConn (6-5-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. at Joseph J. Marrone Stadium at Rizza Performance Center and live on FloFC. The contest will wrap up 2021 regular season non-conference play for the Scarlet Knights.

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PREVIOUSLY ON ...

Rutgers fell at Michigan (7-5-3, 4-2-1) by a 2-1 score on Friday night at U-M Soccer Stadium.
The Wolverines handed Rutgers its first road loss this season (3-1-1) by scoring in each half with markers in the 39^th and 64^th minutes to edge out a home victory.
RU junior wingback Chris Tiao scored his first collegiate goal in the contest, drawing the match even at 1-1 in the 52^nd minute. Tiao collected a clear, beat a man with a quick dribble, then sent a screamer from 25 yards out into the right-side netting for the equalizer.

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SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: UConn is 6-5-2 overall, including a 2-4-2 mark in Big East play this season. The Huskies' offense produces 1.31 goals per game while the defense allows an average of 0.85, which ranks 20th in NCAA Division I. The attack comes from all over the pitch with five players tied for the team lead with eight points apiece, including Okem Chime's team-best four goals. Ben Awashie, Mateo Levesque, Jayden Reid, and Moussa Wade also have eight points. Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite has played every minute in net with a .756 save percentage and six shutouts, a mark that ranks 15th in the nation.

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HISTORY VS. UCONN: The Scarlet Knights and the Huskies have not met since they were Big East, and for one year in 2013, American Athletic Conference opponents. UConn leads the all-time series 12-10-1 dating back to 1982 and have won two in a row in 2011 and 2013. Rutgers' last win in Storrs came in 2001, a 2-1 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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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 in 2019.

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

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SPREAD THE LOVE: Chris Tiao's unassisted goal at Michigan on Friday made him the 10th different Scarlet Knight to score a goal this season and the 13th to record a point. Following Nico Rosamilia and Jackson Temple's three goals apiece, senior captain Pablo Avila and Ritchie Barry both have two, while captain Thomas DeVizio, Ola Maeland, Vincent Borden, Anthony O'Donnell and Cole 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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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 13 of Rutgers' 14 matches of the 2021 season with 12 starts on the backline while contributing to six RU shutouts, which ranks 21st in the nation as of Oct. 21.
No. 51 Acosta has been a mainstay in Jim McElderry's lineup with a call to the Starting XI in all 14 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 14 match days with seven points on three goals and an assist. He has played in all 14 contests with seven 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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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 were 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 15th in the nation with six shutouts and comes in 21st in the country and third in the Big Ten with a 0.81 goals-against average.

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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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