Starting XI: No. 20 Women's Soccer at No. 12 Northwestern in B1G Quarterfinals

Oct 29 | Women's Soccer

Watch on B1G+Live Stats Tournament Central 2022 Record Book

The 11 things to know before the Scarlet Knights visit the Wildcats in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Sun., Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET on B1G+.

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 20 and 7-seed Rutgers women's soccer (13-3-2) begins postseason play in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at No. 12 and 2-seed Northwestern (13-3-2) on Sun., Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET and streaming live on B1G+. The winner will advance to the semifinals to take on the winner of (3) Wisconsin and (6) Penn State on Thurs., Nov. 3 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.

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HOW TO FOLLOW: Watch on B1G+ | Live Stats | Listen on WRSU

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HOW THEY GOT HERE
Rutgers is the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament after finishing the Big Ten slate with 17 points (5-3-2) in a four-way tie for fourth place, but went to the bottom of the tiebreaker with Nebreska, Ohio State, and Penn State due to common opponent results between the four tied teams. Rutgers placed six on the All-Big Ten Awards list (Emily Mason, Sara Brocious, Sam Kroeger, Allison Lowrey, Riley Tiernan, and Emma Misal).

Northwestern finished its Big Ten schedule in second place with 22 points (7-2-1).

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SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Northwestern is having one of its most successful seasons in its history. At 13-3-2, the Wildcats placed eight players (Caterina Regazzoni, Meg Boade, Aurea del Carmen, Rowan Lapi, Emma Phillips, Mia Raben, Josie Aulicino, and Danika Austin) on the All-Big Ten honors, the most in program history, and more than any other school this year. Seven 'Cats (Josie Aulicino, Aurea del Carmen, Meg Boade, Rowan Lapi, Ella Hase, Caterina Regazzoni, and Emma Phillips) have tallied at least three goals this season.

Rutgers and Northwestern played to a 1-1 draw in the regular season on Sept. 29 in Evanston when both programs were ranked nationally in the Top 10. Allison Lowrey scored the equalizer in the 48th minute off assists from Sara Brocious and Emily Mason, while Meagan McClelland made five stops as Northwestern led RU in shots on goal. 6-2.

The all-time series is at 4-2-2 in favor of Rutgers with the Wildcats' last win coming in 2015.

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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 15 of the nation, no single player is ranked above No. 100 in scoring (Sam Kroeger and Allison Lowrey's seven goals).

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ROAD WARRIORS: Rutgers began the 2022 season on the road with the intention of training for postseason games away from Piscataway, New Jersey. The two victories at the Lobo Invitational over New Mexico and UNLV, and the win at Providence marked the first time in program history that Rutgers played three matches away from home to start a season and won them all. The Aug. 25 road date at Providence was the first time RU played three matches away from home to start a season since 2001.

"To reach our goals, we have to win at home and we have to win on the road," said head coach Mike O'Neill. "We wanted to challenge our comfort zone early, and we liked the added benefit of bonding as a team and building team chemistry with some early time on the road together."

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RUTGERS RANKED: RU has been ranked No. 20 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. 27, Rutgers is among the nation's leaders in goals (16th, 41), assists (18th, 39), and points (17th, 121). The 2.3 goals per match comes in at 20th in the nation.
Sam Kroeger owns four game-winning goals to rank 19th in the NCAA.
Meagan McClelland's eight shutouts are ranked No. 24 in the country.

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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 the postseason with 9,302:27 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 9,302:27 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 17 of 18 matches this season, including 10 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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