Rutgers University
Penn State
Men's Soccer to Welcome Penn State to Yurcak Field on Tuesday Night
Oct 16 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (4-6-2, 2-3-1 B1G) will remain at Yurcak Field to face Penn State (7-2-3, 3-1-1 B1G) on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The contest will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.
Last Time Out
Rutgers picked up its second Big Ten win of the season with a 2-1 decision over Wisconsin (4-4-5, 1-2-3 B1G) under the Friday Knight Lights at Yurcak Field on Oct. 13.
The contest started off slowly as both teams traded possessions. Temple, however, broke through in the 21st minute to put RU on the board and give the team the lead heading into halftime.
Add it to the Jackson Temple highlight reel 🎞️🤩#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/x9NolGg9ug
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 15, 2023
Out of the break, Wisconsin even the score up with a goal in the 48th minute of play. Rutgers did not quit though and continued to keep the ball in the Badgers' defensive half.
Off a long ball from Matthew Acosta, Calov controlled the rebound off a shot from Ian Abbey to score the game-winner.
70' | BACK IN FRONT 😤
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 13, 2023
Curt Calov scores his second goal of the season with help from Ian Abbey and Matt Acosta!
📺@BigTenNetwork
📊 https://t.co/SV1JPEd18f#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/g566q9iTTO
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.
Top of the Stats
Jackson Temple picked up where he left off last season, leading RU in multiple statistical categories. The graduate student paces the Scarlet Knights in both points (12) and goals (5). He also ranks second in assists with two.
The graduate student scored in three consecutive outings against Columbia (Sept. 13), Michigan State (Sept. 17) and Michigan (Sept. 22) before finding the back of the net again versus Wisconsin (Oct. 13). Temple's five goals ranks third in the Big Ten while his 12 points rank second.
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 pair of goals and two assists to tie for third on the team with six 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 seven 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 (9), Ruiz (6), Stopek (6) and Sanchez (5) have all started multiple games for the Scarlet Knights this season. The group all started for the first time this season together against Wisconsin (Oct. 13). At least two rookies have started six times this fall and three have started three times.
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 fourth on the squad 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, including Francesco Di Ponzio, have already collectively played 2,475 minutes on the pitch and combined for 26 starts.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
Penn State has won five of its last seven outings, most recently upsetting No. 12 Northwestern, 2-1, on Friday, Oct. 13, handing the Wildcats their first loss of the season. Prior to the victory, the Nittany Lions fell to Indiana (2-1) and drew Michigan State (0-0).
PSU owns the 17-9 edge in the all-time series. The opponent had won nine contests in a row spanning from 2014 to 2021, however, RU came out on top in the teams' most recent meeting last season with a 2-1 victory.
Next Up
Rutgers will play its final nonconference contest of the season as the team takes the trip to Northeastern on Saturday, Oct. 21. The game will start at 1 p.m. and be available to watch on FloSports and NESN.
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.
