Starting XI: No. 14 Women's Soccer at No. 6 Michigan State

Oct 21 | Women's Soccer

Watch on BTN/Fox Sports App Live Stats 2022 Record Book

The 11 things to know before the Scarlet Knights visit the Spartans on Sun., Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 14 Rutgers women's soccer (13-2-2, 5-2-2) plays the 2022 regular season finale at No. 6 Michigan State (13-1-3, 8-0-1) on Sun., Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. ET and airing live on Big Ten Network with Dean Linke and Jackie Manny on the call.

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HOW TO FOLLOW: Watch on Big Ten Network/Fox Sports App | Live Stats

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PREVIOUSLY ON...
Rutgers dropped a 3-2 final score at Michigan (7-7-3, 2-5-2) on Thursday evening. Sara Brocious and Riley Tiernan gave the Scarlet Knights a 2-0 lead by the 11th minute, but the Wolverines came storming back with three unanswered goals in the second half to claim a home victory.

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SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: Michigan State has clinched the 2022 Big Ten Championship with an 8-0-1 conference record. They are 13-1-3 overall and have risen to No. 6 in the country while setting a program record for conference wins in a season. With Thursday's results, the Spartans not only earned the first Big Ten women's soccer title in school history, but also locked down the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament.

Lauren DeBeau ranks second in the conference with nine goals and comes in third with 21 points, adding three assists to her statistical ledger this season. Goalkeeper Lauren Kozal leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh in the country with her nine shutouts. Her 0.44 goals-against average (9th in NCAA) and .870 save percentage (15th in NCAA) also lead the Big Ten.

Rutgers is 9-0 against Michigan State all-time dating back to 2004 and 7-0 in the Big Ten regular season since 2014. Rutgers is 3-0 in East Lansing.

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FAMILY STYLE: The Scarlet Knights' offense has been powered by a selfless style of passing and an unpredictable source of origin. Thirty-one of their 35 goals scored in the run of play have been assisted, and the total assists (39) are keeping up with the totals goals (41) thanks to one-time passing crediting double assists. Four of Rutgers' 41 goals have been scored from the penalty spot.

Fourteen different Scarlet Knights have registered a point thus far in 2022, including 11 different goal scorers and 12 different assisters. Nine goals spanning wins over Buffalo and Temple were all scored by different players, including all seven against Temple on Sept. 1.

With the team's offense ranked in the Top 10 of the nation, no single player is ranked above No. 86 in scoring (Sam Kroeger and Allison Lowrey's seven goals).

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PLAYOFF PICTURE: Rutgers has clinched a berth in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament, marking a perfect 9-for-9 run making the conference tournament since joining the league in 2014. They will be seeking to advance to at least the semifinal round for a fourth consecutive year.

Northwestern stands in second with 19 points with one match day remaining. The Scarlet Knights are tied for third place in the Big Ten with Ohio State and Nebraska, all with 17 points. Penn State and Wisconsin are tied for sixth with 16 points.

The top four seeds will host a quarterfinal match on Sun., Oct 30 before the semifinals and finals are played on the neutral field at Lower.com Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, the home of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.

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RUTGERS RANKED: RU has been ranked No. 14 in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Poll. The Scarlet Knights began at No. 6 in the preseason poll, marking 11 of the last 13 seasons Rutgers received votes in the national preseason vote, before rising to No. 3 in Week 1 after a 2-0-0 start - matching the highest rank in program history.

Through matches on Oct. 20, Rutgers is among the nation's leaders in goals (9th, 41), assists (9th, 39), and points (10th, 121). The 2.4 goals per match comes in at 17th in the nation.
Sam Kroeger owns four game-winning goals to rank 13th in the NCAA.
Meagan McClelland's eight shutouts are ranked No. 16 in the country.
Kylie Daigle's seven assists are tops in the Big Ten and No. 22 in the nation.
The Big Ten coaches voted Rutgers to repeat as conference champions, coming in a first-place tie with Penn State in the annual preseason poll. The poll marks the first time in Rutgers Athletics history a Scarlet Knight team has been picked No. 1, and it also marks the first time in conference history the women's soccer preseason poll resulted in a tie for the top spot.

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HISTORIC START: The 2022 Scarlet Knights are the only team in Rutgers women's soccer history to start a season 9-0-0. They surpassed the 8-0-0 start by the 2015 College Cup team, who lost their ninth match. Before the setback at Penn State, the Scarlet Knights had won 20 consecutive regular season games dating back to Sept. 16, 2021. Prior to Thursday, the team's last regular season loss came on Sept. 12, 2021 at Georgetown.

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CHASING HISTORY: Graduate student goalkeeper Meagan McClelland is already the school record holder in minutes played and at the 56:21 mark of the Minnesota match, became the NCAA Division I all-time leader in minutes played in the sport of women's soccer with 8,998:08 (and counting). She heads to Michigan State with 9,212:27 career minutes played.

Riley Tiernan and Sara Brocious each have six assists this season and are marching up the record book in career helpers at RU. Tiernan is tied for eighth all-time with 19 and needs four more to enter the Top 5. Brocious has 15 career assists and is two away from breaking into the Top 10. The all-time assist record at Rutgers is 29 set by Gina DeMaio from 2006-10.

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THE CLEANEST SHEET: With eight shutouts in 2022, graduate student goalkeeper Meagan McClelland continues her reign as the NCAA Division I career leader in shutouts with 43. With 9,212:27 minutes played in her career, McClelland passed Virginia's Laurel Ivory NCAA record for all-time minutes played set in 2021.

The Kearny keeper recorded 13 shutouts and 83 saves on the year in 2021, including five clean sheets against league opponents in the run to the conference title. She maintained a 0.67 GAA in net, helping RU extend its streak to eight straight seasons registering a GAA of 0.77 or less.

McClelland is the first to credit the defense in front of her, which has allowed six shots on goal or fewer in 16 of 17 matches this season, including nine with three or fewer shots on target allowed.

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GUESS WHO'S BACK?: Rutgers returns nine starters (15 or more starts) and 17 letterwinners from the 2021 College Cup squad.

Returning "On the Banks" this fall are Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Region First Team performer Riley Tiernan (an NCAA Division I Preseason Player to Watch) and All-Region goalkeeper Meagan McClelland. Junior midfielder Becci Fluchel (All-Big Ten Second Team) also returns with All-Conference honors from last fall.

Graduate student back Adriana Kuryla celebrated her birthday in the season-opening win at New Mexico by playing all 90 minutes in the shut out after playing in just two matches last season due to injuries.

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NEW KIDS "ON THE BANKS": Coach Mike O'Neill signed five freshmen to the 2022 roster (Hannah Blodget, Olivia Bodmer, Mallory McGuire, Allie Post, and Naila Schoefberger) and welcomed five transfers to the mix (Niamh Cashin - Rider, Hailey Gutowski - Temple, Jessica Schildkraut - Columbia, Emily Smith - American, and Naya Vialva - La Salle).

Allie Post and Mallory McGuire scored their first collegiate goals against Temple on Sept. 1, while Hannah Blodget picked up her first point with an assist in the victory. Hailey Gutowski leads the newcomers in scoring with five points on two goals and an assist, while Post has totaled four points on a goal and two helpers.

Stay up to date on the latest news and schedule updates by following Rutgers women's soccer on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Download the Scarlet Knights App for Apple or Android today.
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