LOVES PARK, Ill. – Rutgers men's soccer (1-1-0) visits Wisconsin (0-2-0) on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT) indoors at Mercyhealth Sportscore Two, 90 minutes south of campus across state lines in Illinois.

1. HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats | Live Stream

2. LAST TIME OUT: The Scarlet Knights dropped a 2-1 final score to No. 20 Penn State (2-0-0) in the 2021 Spring home opener on Tuesday afternoon at Iron Peaks Sports & Events. All three of the contest's goals were scored in the first half, with a Jackson Temple penalty kick goal sandwiched between Penn State tallies. A Rutgers red card forced the Scarlet Knights to play the final 40 minutes with 10 men.

3. SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin is without a point after two matches with losses to Indiana (3-0) and Northwestern (5-2). Junior forward Andrew Akindele, senior defenseman captain Zach Klancnik and senior goalkeeper Sven Kleinhans were named to the 2020-21 Big Ten Preseason Watch List as three Badgers to keep an eye on as the season begins.
 
Akindele, named to the 2018 All-Big Ten freshman team, played in 14 games for Wisconsin in 2019, tallying 19 shots with five on goal and one assist against UAB Sept. 1. He missed a handful of games that sophomore season due to injury.
 
Redshirt junior Zach Klancnik was named captain for the 2020-21 season. The Arlington Heights, Illinois, native was a key member of the 2019 squad, starting in 15 games. Klancnik recorded one goal and two assists last season, tying for second place on the team in points and named to the Big Ten All-Tournament.
 
Kleinhans will be thirsty for action starting in net for the Badgers Friday as he did not play in 2019 after transferring from Bluefield College. The Ottenhoefen, Germany, native has done five international tours in Spain, France and Switzerland and won the Best State and Region Goalkeeper Award from U14-19.

4. THE SERIES: The Badgers lead the all-time series 5-3 since RU joined the Big Ten in 2014. After Rutgers took the first two, including a win in the 2014 Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin won five-straight before the Scarlet Knights halted the streak with a 3-0 victory in 2019 at Yurcak Field.

5. LAST TIME VS. WISCONSIN: Then-sophomore Pablo Avila scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season and added an assist in the 3-0 win over the Badgers at Yurcak Field in 2019. All three goals came in the second half in support of freshman Oren Asher's shutout victory in net with two saves over the final 45 minutes.

6. PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Big Ten Conference announced Pablo Avila, Hugo Le Guennec and Jackson Temple as Rutgers Players to Watch for the 2021 Spring Season. Avila, a junior from Terrassa, Spain, is returning as the team's leading point scorer with six goals and two assists, earning a nod to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Le Guennec and Temple were named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2019, and return with big expectations for their sophomore years "On the Banks." Le Guennec, a back out of Massy, France, contributed to Rutgers' four shutouts and an exceptional 0.84 goals-against average during the 6-0-2 start. Temple, a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, was the team's second-leading point scorer with five goals.

7. NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK: Sophomore midfielder Jackson Temple was named to the National Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer last week.The Millville, Pa. native had his hand in all three Rutgers goals through the first two games of the 2021 Spring season. He assisted both tallies in the 2-0 victory at Michigan State on Friday, which was the program's first win against the Spartans and the first win a Big Ten opener since 2014. Temple then scored RU's goal in the 2-1 setback to No. 20 Penn State on Tuesday, burying a penalty in the 33^rd minute to draw the Scarlet Knights even. 

8. BETWEEN THE PIPES: Sophomore goalkeeper Oren Asher was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. It was Rutgers' second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor since joining the conference in 2014, and the first since David Greczek got the nod four seasons ago in September 2016. Asher made five saves in the 2-0 shutout victory at Michigan State, Rutgers' first win against the Spartans and the program's first victory in a conference opener since 2014. Four of the five stops came during crunch time to preserve the clean sheet, making stops in the 72nd, 73rd, 84th and 89th minutes.

9. EARNED EXPERIENCE: RU returns 14 letterwinners from last season, including eight of 11 starters. Junior Pablo Avila is the leading returning point scorer with six goals and two assists from last season. Junior Thomas DeVizio has 30 appearances on the backline, where he's joined by Le Guennec, Borden. Senior midfielder Kyle Galloway has played in 39 career games, joined by senior Vincenzo Pugliese (31 career appearances) and junior Nick Cruz (27 games played). A young attacking front includes sophomores Anthony O'Donnell and Randy Arronis, who both picked up their first collegiate points last season as freshmen.

10. ON THE RISE: At 6-1-2 last season outside the Big Ten, Rutgers had one of the best winning percentages (.778) in school history (5th) in non-conference play. During the final week of the regular season, Rutgers ranked 69^th in the NCAA RPI rankings, a stark improvement over the previous three seasons, which had an average RPI ranking of 150 at that point in the season. The Scarlet Knights garnered nine points from two wins and three draws against opponents in the RPI Top 100 - including a win and a draw against teams in the Top 50. This is another vast improvement over the previous three years, which had one point combined against the Top 100 from 2016-18.

11. NEW BLOOD: The Scarlet Knights have the No. 26 nationally ranked recruiting class heading into the season, according to Top Drawer Soccer. Coach McElderry and staff welcomed 12 newcomers to the roster - 11 freshmen and senior transfer Ritchie Barry from St. Joseph's. Barry and freshman Colin Beasley scored the goals in the Michigan State win, while Moussa Sbaly and Cole Sotack made starts in both matches for RU. Meet the newest Scarlet Knights.  
 
 
Follow Rutgers men's soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@RUMensSoccer) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/RUMensSoccer). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.
- RU -