PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (8-5-2, 2-4-1) hosts Ohio State (6-8-1, 2-5-0) on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. at Yurcak Field and live on Big Ten+. It is the final regular season contest for both clubs, and both sides have Big Ten Tournament hopes riding on its result.

The Senior Day match is presented by R Fund. The Scarlet Knights will honor two members of the Rutgers University Class of 2022 - Nick Cruz and Thomas DeVizio - prior to the game. Another senior, Pablo Avila, has already elected to return to Rutgers for his extra year of eligibility, and will defer his Senior Day recognition until 2022. 

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PREVIOUSLY ON ... 

• Rutgers concluded non-conference play with a 4-2 setback at UConn (7-5-2) on Wednesday evening at Joseph J. Marrone Stadium at Rizza Performance Center.
• Junior Jackson Temple recorded his first collegiate brace with two goals, while Pablo Avila assisted Temple's pair of tallies for the senior's first multi-helper match.
• UConn answered Temple's flurry with three unanswered goals to score the home victory.
• In a fast a furious first half, the two sides combined for three goals in just over three minutes of play with Rutgers ahead 2-1 on Temple's brace.

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SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State started its Big Ten slate 0-5 before rattling off two consecutive wins against top-half-of-the-table teams Michigan and Penn State. Xavier Green (9 points on 4 goals and 1 assist) scored in both of those victories, while Laurence Wootton was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 26 after a three-point game vs. Penn State in which he scored and assisted on another goal in a 2-1 win over the Nittany Lions. He then scored on the day he received the award in the 2-1 win over the Wolverines in Columbus. Wooten, a sophomore captain, leads the Buckeyes with 14 points and six goals in 2021. OSU has played two keepers this Fall with Keagan McLaughlin going 3-5-1 with two shutouts, a 1.01 goals-against average, and a .763 save percentage. Noah Lawrence is 3-3-0 with a 1.69 GAA and .667 save percentage.

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HISTORY VS. OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 5-2 since 2014 when Rutgers joined the Big Ten. The Spring 2021 match was canceled, but the season before that, Ohio State won a pair of 1-0 matches, first in the regular season at Yurcak, then in the Big Ten play-in game in Bloomington, Indiana. Rutgers' last win came in 2018, and the last home win was in 2015.

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SENIOR SALUTE: While Nick Cruz and Thomas DiVizio are still able to decide to return to Rutgers for an extra year of eligibility, they will be honored on Senior Day Sunday as upcoming Rutgers University Class of 2022 graduates. 

Thomas DeVizio, a team captain in his senior year, will play in his 53rd career match on Sunday. The Scotch Plains, New Jersey native has contributed 10 points on a goal and eight assists during his four seasons, and has had an immeasurable impact on his club's success through leadership and work ethic. The wingback has chipped in to 10 shutouts over the past 21 matches. He will graduate with a degree in communications after earning Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and three Academic All-Big Ten honors.

"He's a Jersey guy and really bought in to what we're trying to do here," said head coach Jim McElderry. "We couldn't be more proud of him. He's an excellent player, a great guy, and has turned into a great leader."

Nick Cruz will play in his 46th match at Rutgers on Sunday owning four career points, all on assists. His breakout season in Spring 2021 saw the midfielder play in 100 percent of the minutes in seven of RU's nine contests, resulting in a United Soccer Coaches Player of Distinction Award, as well as earning the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and the Mike Miller Most Improved Player Award. Cruz will graduate with a degree in psychology, an induction into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national student-athlete honor society, and as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

"Nick has had some unlucky injuries, but always battles back," McElderry said. "He's an excellent technical player, loves the game, and trains incredibly hard." 

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PLAYOFF PICTURE: Both Rutgers and Ohio State are playing for a berth into the Big Ten Tournament, beginning with the quarterfinals at the homes of higher seeds on Sunday, Nov. 7. Eight of the Big Ten's nine men's soccer programs qualify for the conference tournament. Rutgers sits in seventh place with seven points, while Ohio State and Northwestern are tied for eighth with six points.

Rutgers can qualify for the Big Ten postseason with a win or a draw against Ohio State, and could still get in with a loss as long as Northwestern loses or draws against Michigan State (Sun., 4 p.m. ET).

Ohio State is eliminated with a loss, and can only get in with a win or draw if Northwestern finishes lower on the table thanks to the Wildcats' head-to-head 1-0 win over the Buckeyes on Oct. 3.

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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 Jackson Temple's team-leading five goals, Nico Rosamilia has three, senior captain Pablo Avila and Ritchie Barry both have two, and captain Thomas DeVizio, Ola Maeland, Vincent Borden, Anthony O'Donnell and Cole Sotack have all found the back of the net this Fall. Matthew Acosta is one of four 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 17th in the nation with six shutouts.

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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": 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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