PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (2-1-0) hosts Maryland (0-2-0) on Wednesday, March 3 at 12 p.m. ET at the Sport Club Field.

All events at Rutgers Athletics venues for the 2020-21 competition year will operate in accordance with current statewide restrictions on indoor and outdoor public gatherings. Access to events will be limited to athletes, coaches, trainers and other necessary game day personnel. As a result, soccer matches will not be open to the public this season. For more information, click here.

1. HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats | Radio | @RUMensSoccer

2. LAST TIME OUT: Jackson Temple scored the contest's loan goal early in the 50th minutes and goalkeeper Oren Asher saved a penalty kick in the 55th to preserve a 1-0 shutout victory at Wisconsin on Saturday.

3. SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS: Maryland is without a point through two matches after a 3-2 loss at Penn State and a 1-0 setback against Ohio State on Saturday. Four of Maryland's freshmen have played big roles. Jacen Russell-Rowe and Joe Suchecki both scored goals in the opener at Penn State, while Ben Bender was a big aspect of the Terps attack. After giving up three goals in the first half, Jamie Lowell grew into the match between the sticks, and allowed just one goal against the Buckeyes in the next time out. Maryland said goodbye to senior defender Ben Di Rosa, a 2018 NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team selection during the national title run, after the Ohio State game as he joined New York City FC following his selection in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft.

4. THE SERIES: Maryland is 10-1 all-time since 1960, with RU's win coming in 1995. The Terps have claimed every point as opponents in the Big Ten, including a 6-0-0 record in the regular season and a 2-0 victory in the 2014 Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals.

5. LAST TIME VS. MARYLAND: COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Oct. 2, 2019) - Despite then-sophomore Pablo Avila evening the score for Rutgers at 1-1 in the 64th minute, the defending national champion Terrapins were able to pull back in front as the Scarlet Knights fell 3-1 at Ludwig Field. Eric Matzelevich and David Kovacic (2) had the Maryland goals.

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. TEMPLE TIME: Sophomore midfielder Jackson Temple was named to the National Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer after opening week.The Millville, Pa. native has at least two points in all three matches, scoring the lone goal in the 1-0 win at Wisconsin on Saturday. Temple had his hand in all three Rutgers goals through the first two matches of the season. He assisted both tallies in the 2-0 victory at Michigan State, 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, 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 after opening 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. He then picked up his Big Ten leading second shutout of the season at Wisconsin, stopping a penalty kick in the 55th minute.

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. 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 Sabaly made the starting lineup in all three matches for RU. Ola Maeland has played impactful minutes over the last two outings, contributing 30 minutes in the Wisconsin win. Meet the newest Scarlet Knights.  

11. 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.
 
 
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