Starting XI: Men’s Soccer vs. Saint Joseph's

Sep 12 | Men's Soccer

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The 11 things to know before the Scarlet Knights host the Hawks on Monday night at Yurcak Field

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (4-0-1) looks to remain unbeaten to start the 2021 season when Saint Joseph's (1-4-0) comes to Yurcak Field on Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. on Big Ten+.

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PREVIOUSLY ON ...

Rutgers conceded its first goals of the 2021 season, but were not deterred from staying unbeaten in a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over Lehigh (0-4-0) on a freaky Friday evening at Yurcak Field.
Vincent Borden scored the game-winning goal in the 81^st minute off a header from near the top of the 18-yard box, finishing a deep service from captain Thomas DeVizio.
Twelve minutes earlier, DeVizio's serve helped tie the game at 2-2 in the 69^th minute when Ritchie Barry challenged the ball near the 6-yard box, where it was redirected straight into the Mountain Hawk net.
Rutgers had a 1-0 lead at halftime thanks to a sneaky Pablo Avila goal in the 40th minute, his second in as many matches for the Scarlet Knights, which was shot from about 40 yards out before curving into the right-side netting to the surprise of much of the Lehigh backline.

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SCOUTING THE HAWKS: Saint Joseph's started the season 0-3 with losses to Marist (1-0), LIU (1-0 in OT), and Campbell (4-1). The Hawks picked up their first win, defeating UNC Greensboro 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 5 before another setback against Cornell (2-1) in their last game on Friday. Freshman Lars Haavie started the first four games in net with a 1.74 goals-against average, while sophomore Christian Matson took the 2-1 loss last time out against Cornell. SJU has spread the scoring around with four goals from four different Hawks and four assists from four completely different players from the goal scorers.

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HISTORY VS. SAINT JOSEPH'S: The former Atlantic 10 foes have not met since those days competing in the same conference. The last meeting was in 1995 in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights are unbeaten at 14-0-1 in the head-to-head series, which started in 1983.

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A KNIGHTED FORMER HAWK: Rutgers fifth-year senior Ritchie Barry transferred from Saint Joseph's to the Scarlet Knights following his junior season. The Cardiff, Wales native scored 37 points for the Hawks on 13 goals and 11 assists in three seasons, including a nine-goal, five-assist campaign in 2018 that ended in a Philadelphia Soccer Six All-Star Team honor. Barry has five goals as a Scarlet Knights, including a game-tying tally last time out in the 3-2 win over Lehigh. Barry was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team in his first year "On the Banks" during the Spring of 2021 following four goals in the shortened season.

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CAPTAINS CLUTCH: Senior captains Pablo Avila and Thomas DeVizio have had a huge hand in the last two wins. Avila scored the insurance goal in the 2-0 win over Mount St. Mary's last Monday, then opened the Scarlet Knights' three-goal assault in the 3-2 victory against Lehigh on Friday. DeVizio, who scored his first collegiate goal in the season opening 2-0 win over Delaware, added another first to his career on Friday with his first collegiate multi-assist game - passing a pair of balls for the tying and game-winning goals against Lehigh.

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BIG TEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER (TEAM) OF THE WEEK: Junior goalkeeper Oren Asher is the two-time reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and a selection to the latest College Soccer News National Team 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. Asher was the only goalkeeper in the nation with 380 minutes played and no goals allowed.

Asher and the defense contributed to the four Rutgers wins last Spring, all via the clean sheet. The goalkeeper now has 11 shutouts through two-plus seasons. Asher has been the first to credit the boys in front of him on the shared shutout statistics, including team captain Thomas DeVizio, Vincent Borden, Chris Tiao, Hugo Le Guennec, and Cole Sotack, who all combined for the lion's share of the minutes on defense last season.

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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 10-1-3 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.

Freshmen Acosta and Zalinsky both made starts in four of the five games early this season, and Rosamilia picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on the game-winning goal against Delaware on Aug. 26.

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