PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (3-6-2, 1-3-1 B1G) will host Wisconsin (4-3-5, 1-1-3 B1G) for Friday Knight Lights at Yurcak Field on Oct. 13. The contest will kickoff at 6 p.m. and be streamed on the Big Ten Network.
The Scarlet Knights will also celebrate Alumni Day, welcoming back letterwinners spanning three decades. In addition, all fans are encouraged to wear black for a blackout of Yurcak Field.
Traffic Updates
Scarlet Knight Way will be closed starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. Please plan an alternate route.
Last Time Out
Although the score remained 0-0 at halftime, both teams played aggressively on offense, generating multiple opportunities. In the first 45 minutes of play, the Scarlet Knights led the way in shots, 10-7, and both teams were tied with two shots on goal.
Northwestern created two close opportunities in the final moments before the break, but Ciaran Dalton and the backline stood strong, keeping the contest scoreless.
Out of the locker room, the team remained evenly matched, both playing strong defense to keep the match scoreless. However, in the 79th minute, the Wildcats broke through with a score to take the 1-0 lead. In the final moments of the contest, the opponent tacked on another goal to end the contest with a 2-0 win.
Ciaran Dalton Named B1G Defensive Player of the Week
Following an exceptional performance over the last two contests, Ciaran Dalton has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The conference made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.
This is the first weekly conference award of Dalton's career, the first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award for Rutgers since 2021 and the seventh overall. Dalton is just the third student-athlete in program history to claim the award as Oren Asher (5) and David Greczek (1) are the only others to achieve the honor.
The sophomore out of Pearl River, New York led the Scarlet Knights to a 2-1 win over Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 3, for the program's first ever win on the road at Ludwig Field. He recorded 10 saves for a career-high performance. The total passes his previous best of seven stops, which he recorded twice during his rookie year last season against both Ohio State (Sept. 30) and Penn State (Oct. 25). The double-digit save total is the highest by any goalkeeper in the Big Ten so far this fall. The goalkeeper also registered five saves against Northwestern on Sunday, Oct. 8.
Dalton has totaled 34 saves through nine games this season and ranks second in the Big Ten with 3.78 saves per game. He has recorded 3+ saves in seven outings this slate and at least five saves in his last three outings.
2022 Big Ten Tournament Champions
The fall off 2022 was historic for Rutgers, as the team earned its first Big Ten Tournament Championship in program history and first conference title since 1997. The Scarlet Knights became the first men's team at Rutgers and third team overall to win a Big Ten Championship since joining the conference. The victory punched RU's ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
The staff secured a 10-5-6 overall record, including a 4-2-2 mark in the Big Ten, to earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the highest in program history. The team hosted all three rounds of the conference tournament, bringing in record crowds including over 4,200+ fans for the title game.
The Returners
Rutgers returns 22 players from its 2022 Big Ten Tournament title team including key pieces like goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton, forward Ola Maeland and midfielder Cole Cruthers.
The Scarlet Knights will also bring back two graduate students, Jackson Temple and Chris Tiao. Both were huge parts of not only the previous fall season but also the conference tournament as both scored goals in the title run.
Head coach Jim McElderry also returns for his fifth season at the helm of the Scarlet Knights, along with his staff who was named the 2022 United Soccer Coaches North Region Staff of the Year.
Impact Transfers
This offseason, McElderry and the coaching staff welcomed a trio of transfers in Curt Calov (Syracuse), Sawyer Koza (Temple) and Andrew Noel (Pitt).
Calov, a midfielder from Morristown, New Jersey, played a big part in helping Syracuse to its first National Championship in program history in 2022. He scored four goals and provided a career-high seven assists for 14 points.
In the College Cup, as he scored in the 33rd minute in the National Championship match in addition to converting the second penalty in the 7-6 shootout win over Indiana. He also assisted the first goal in a 3-2 win against Creighton at the College Cup Semifinal and opened the Quarterfinals against Vermont with an incredible Olimpico goal from the corner flag in the 11th minute.
In addition, Calov recorded an assist in Syracuse's 2-0 victory against Clemson in the 2022 ACC Championship Final.
Calov has made his impact known since arriving "On The Banks", recording a goal and a pair of assists to tie for third on the team with four points.
As a freshman with the Owls, Koza saw action in 13 games and made 10 starts. He recorded three goals, including a career-high two scores against St. Peter's on three shots on goal. He also scored against Stony Brook.
In addition, Koza added two assists during the fall with one against South Florida and his second versus No. 22 Tulsa. He totaled eight points to close out his freshman season at Temple.
Koza has also gotten comfortable in the Scarlet & White, playing in six games and making one start. He has also registered two shots so far in the fall.
Noel comes "On The Banks" after spending two seasons at Pitt. Although he did not see action on the field, he has seen quite a bit of success playing with the New York Red Bulls Academy. He started for the New York Red Bulls U17 team and was called up to the U17 US National Camp junior year. He won two penalty shootouts in the GA cup junior season and was later called up to the U18 National Team camp. Senior year, Noel was called up to the USL and started for the New York Red Bulls U19 team.
Featuring Freshmen
RU welcomed a group of five freshman this offseason "On The Banks" including Nick Collins, Francesco Di Ponzio, Luciano Sanchez, Erick Ruiz and Devon Stopek.
All of the newcomers call New Jersey home and will remain in the Garden State for their collegiate soccer careers. Each of the rookies has made a big impact on their respective club teams and will continue to play a big part at Rutgers.
The five newcomers have all made their mark on the program early in the season, each seeing minutes on the pitch.
Collins (8), Ruiz (5), Stopek (5) and Sanchez (4) have all started multiple games for the Scarlet Knights this season.
Ruiz scored his first goal of the season against Michigan (Sept. 22) for the first points of his collegiate career.
Sanchez has been solid at striker as well, ranking second on the team with 19 shots and tied for first with 10 attempts on frame. He is second on the squad with five points, recording an assist in the season opener at Delaware (Aug. 24) and notching two goals against Saint Peter's (Sept. 4) and Columbia (Sept. 13).
The group of five rookies have already collectively played 2,109 minutes on the pitch and combined for 22 starts.
Looking Into the Badgers
Wisconsin hasn't picked up a win in three matches, with its most recent victory coming against Maryland on Sept. 24 for its only Big Ten win. The team fell to then-No. 23 Michigan State (3-1) and drew Michigan and Bradley (1-1).
Tim Bielic and Mitchell Dryden rank at the top of the stats for Wisconsin with two goals apiece. Maxwell Keenan paces the Badgers with six points with a goal and four assists.
The two teams are tied up 6-6 in the all-time series. The two teams tied last season in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, which Rutgers advanced in penalty kicks.
Next Up
Rutgers will be back at home to face Penn State (6-2-3, 2-1-1 B1G) on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. for its final home game. The match will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
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.
