Men's Soccer Welcomes Rider to Yurcak Field on Friday Night

Friday, September 9

Piscataway, N.J.

7:00 PM

Rutgers

Rider

Men's Soccer Welcomes Rider to Yurcak Field on Friday Night

Sep 08 | Men's Soccer

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The Scarlet Knights will meet the Broncos on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (1-1-2) will continue its home stand as it hosts Rider (0-3-0) on Friday, Sept. 9 for a 7 p.m. start. The meeting with mark the 34th between the two programs.

Last Time Out

MD Myers found the back of the net twice as the Rutgers men's soccer team tied Yale (0-0-2), 2-2, on Monday night at Yurcak Field. Myers recorded both goals in the affair, first converting off a penalty kick before scoring a header late in the second half.

1️⃣ game, 2️⃣ goals… MD Myers had himself a day 🤩#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/aShGv5oFdq
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 6, 2022

Spreading the Love

Through four outings, the Scarlet Knights have seen five unique goal scorers for a total of eight goals.

MD Myers leads the pack with four scores after securing braces against Omaha (Aug. 25) and Yale (Sept. 5). Pablo Avila, Jackson Temple, Ian Abbey and Joey Zalinsky have also added goals for RU.

B1G Time

Since arriving in Piscataway, New Jersey in the offseason from High Point, MD Myers has made a big impact at both Rutgers and in the Big Ten.

The senior forward paces the conference in four categories including: shots (17), shots on goal (10), goals (4) and points (8). His nine shots against Yale also tops the conference as well as his pair of two-goal outings.

Welcoming the Newcomers

Head coach Jim McElderry and his staff added 11 newcomers to the squad in the offseason, including three transfers and seven freshmen.

Transfers MD Myers (High Point), Saahb Kular (Cleveland State), Nick Spittle (Seneca [OCAA]), Zach Riviere (Georgetown) and freshmen William Baker, Sam Delgado, Ian Abbey, Nestor Cabrera, Cole Cruthers, Ciaran Dalton and Dylan Van Der Walt were all welcomed to the team.

The freshmen trio of Abbey, Cruthers and Dalton have already made an impact on the team this season. Dalton tops the goalkeepers with three starts and eight saves while Abbey has recorded one goal and made one start. Cruthers has started all four contests so far, playing 281 minutes.

Back Again

The Scarlet Knights return 20 student-athletes overall and 11 players with eight or more starts from the 2021 roster that went 9-6-2, the most wins in a campaign since 2015. Notably, All-Region and All-Big Ten selection Jackson Temple and All-Big Ten Freshman Team picks Matthew Acosta and Joey Zalinsky will be returning to the roster.

One Last Go

Graduate students Thomas DeVizio and Pablo Avila made the decision in the offseason to return to the pitch for their final year of eligibility. Last season, the two veterans combined for 13 points, including three goals and seven assists.

The pair is already proving to be productive as DeVizio has played 222 minutes and Avila added a score and an assist so far this slate.

Scouting the Broncs

Rider has dropped its first three games of the season to Seton Hall (0-3), Virginia (0-4) and Penn (1-2). The team's only goal of the season came from sophomore Tom Skrocki against the Quakers in the 38th minute of play.

Rutgers owns the 18-12-3 all-time edge over Rider and has won the previous 11 matchups. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 20, 1993, when the Scarlet Knights came away with a 4-1 win on the road.

On the Schedule

The team will get comfortable playing in front of a home crowd at Yurcak this season, with 11 home games. Rutgers will play six road games, including two nonconference and four Big Ten matches.

After opening the season with a pair of games in Nebraska, the Scarlet Knights will enjoy a five-game homestand, starting with Princeton, before traveling to Wisconsin on Sept. 23.

Rutgers will get one more three-game stretch at home to start off the month of October before trading home-away games to end the 2022 regular season.

Looking Ahead

RU will welcome Albany to Yurcak Field on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.

Follow Along

Follow Rutgers men's soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@RUMensSoccer) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMensSoccer). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter (@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.