Starting XI: No. 10 Women's Soccer at No. 8 Northwestern

Sep 28 | Women's Soccer

Watch on B1G+Live Stats 2022 Record Book

The 11 things to know before the Scarlet Knights visit the Wildcats in a Top 10 matchup on Thu., Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on B1G+.

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 10 Rutgers women's soccer (10-1-0, 2-1-0) visits No. 8 Northwestern (9-1-1, 3-0-0) on Thu., Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) at the Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium and live on B1G+. The Top 10 matchup marks the first for Rutgers in regular-season action since the 2009 team was ranked No. 10 and took on No. 8 Notre Dame in Piscataway on Oct. 9, 2009.

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PREVIOUSLY ON...
Junior midfielder Sara Brocious blasted in a world-class goal in the 88th minute to push No. 4 Rutgers to a 1-0 victory over Maryland (2-3-5, 1-2-0) on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field. Following 87-plus minutes of scoreless soccer in a tight Big Ten battle, Rutgers' Allison Lowrey elevated and headed a ball into wide-open space inside the Maryland 18-yard box. Brocious ran on and struck her shot into the upper-right 90 of the net for the 1-0 lead that would end up holding over the final 2:12.

The slim margin held up in large part to the Rutgers defense, which allowed just two shots on target and fairly routine saves left for Meagan McClelland. It was the seventh time in 11 matches this season the Rutgers defense allowed three or fewer shots on target in a match.

"I saw the ball pop out and just tried to be the first one to get there," Brocious said. "I put my head down and followed through. My teammates all worked so hard and went at the game for all 90 minutes, so a lot of hard work was great to celebrate."

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SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Northwestern just earned its highest national ranking in program history, coming in at No. 8 this week after a 9-1-1 start to the season and a 3-0 beginning to Big Ten play with wins over Purdue (3-0), Nebraska (4-2), and Minnesota (2-1). The Wildcats are playing their third match against a ranked opponent this season, owning a 2-0 record with a 2-0 victory over No. 19 Xavier and a 1-0 win over No. 6 Stanford in consecutive games on Sept. 4 and 8.

Northwestern is outscoring opponents, 23-6, and have posted 28 assists on those 23 goals. Josie Aulicino leads the group with 16 points on five goals and six assists. Reiley Fitzpatrick and Mia Raben have a timeshare in net, splitting the minutes evenly in 2022. Fitzpatrick (0.73 GAA/.556 SV%) and Raben (0.36 GAA/.913 SV%) have combined on six shutouts this season.

Rutgers holds a 4-2-1 record all-time against Northwestern since joining the Big Ten in 2014, but the two sides have not played since 2019. The last matchup in Evanston was in 2017 - a scoreless draw after two overtimes. Rutgers is 0-1-1 in its two matches in Evanston.

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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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RUTGERS RANKED: RU has been ranked No. 10 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 Sept. 27, Rutgers is among the nation's leaders in goals (12th, 30), assists (9th, 29), and points (12th, 89). The 2.7 goals per match comes in at 16th in the nation.
Sam Kroeger and Allison Lowrey each own three game-winning goals to rank 11th in the NCAA.
Riley Tiernan has six assists, ranking 12th in the NCAA.
Meagan McClelland's five shutouts rank 23rd in the country.
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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FAMILY STYLE: The Scarlet Knights' early offense has been powered by a selfless style of passing and an unpredictable source of origin through five matches. Twenty-four of their 30 goals have been assisted, and the total assists (29) are keeping up with the totals goals (30) thanks to one-time passing crediting double assists.

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

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NO GOAL PATROL: Led by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Emily Mason, who has played all 90 minutes in eight of her nine matches this season, the Rutgers defense is allowing a 0.64 goals-against average thanks to stingy shot defense. The Scarlet Knights have allowed six or fewer shots on goal in all 11 matches, including seven with three or fewer shots on target allowed.

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THE CLEANEST SHEET: With five shutouts in the first 11 matches, graduate student goalkeeper Meagan McClelland opens the 2022 season as the NCAA Division I career leader in shutouts with 40. With 8,672:27 minutes played in her career, McClelland is aiming for the NCAA all-time career record for minutes played of 8,998:07 set by Virginia's Laurel Ivory 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.

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THE REIGNING CHAMPS: The 10-0 Big Ten record in 2021 marked the first undefeated conference season in Rutgers women's soccer history, becoming the first Big Ten team to accomplish the feat since 2005. RU outscored the conference competition 23-6 on its way to the school's first Big Ten title. The 10-0 run was part of a program-record 13-match winning streak that carried into the Big Ten Tournament.

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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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