Rutgers University
Penn State
No. 7 Men's Soccer to Face No. 2 Penn State in B1G Quarterfinals
Nov 02 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 7-seeded Rutgers men's soccer (5-7-3, 3-4-1 B1G) will face off against No. 2 seed Penn State (9-3-4, 4-2-2 B1G) in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 3. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. in State College, Pennsylvania and will be available to stream on B1G+.
The stage is set.
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 29, 2023
No. 7 Rutgers will travel to No. 2 Penn State for the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 3 ⚽️#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/ADa03ujYzg
Last Time Out
To end the 2023 regular season, the Scarlet Knights fell to Indiana (9-4-4, 3-2-2 B1G) on Sunday, Oct. 29.
The Hoosiers came out hot on the pitch, scoring two goals in the first 23 minutes of play.
The Scarlet Knights continued to battle for the remainder of the first half, defending multiple IU offensive chances and creating opportunities of their own on offense. With just seconds left in the first 45 minutes, Calov broke through with a goal off a pass from Jason Bouregy to get RU on the board and cut the lead, 2-1.
45' | What a strike 👌
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 29, 2023
Calov breaks through just before halftime to get RU on the board!
📺 https://t.co/RWG9ljhSVz
📊 https://t.co/OnwHVDqUSn #GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/RYJIN23lHy
The two teams were evenly matches to start the second half, in soggy conditions at Bill Armstrong Stadium. However, Indiana continued to attack and scored two goals in the final seven minutes of play to seal the 4-1 victory.
2022 Big Ten Tournament Champions
The 2022 Big Ten Tournament ended very well for RU, 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 has continued to be a veteran leader for Rutgers, leading the squad in multiple statistical categories. The graduate student paces the Scarlet Knights in both points (16), goals (6) and assists (4).
Temple 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) and Northwestern (Oct. 21). The Millville, Pennsylvania native ranks third in the conference with 14 points against Big Ten foes in addition to six goals to sit fourth.
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 three goals and two assists to rank tied for third on the team with eight 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 Scarlet & White, playing in 10 contests 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 (11), Ruiz (8), Stopek (8) and Sanchez (6) 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 in s13 outings this fall and three or more have started five 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 sixth 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 3,149 minutes on the pitch and combined for 33 starts.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
With a draw against Wisconsin to the end regular season, Penn State earned a share of the 2023 Big Ten regular season title along with Indiana. The No. 2 seed only dropped two conference matches with 2-1 losses to both Rutgers and Indiana in the month of October.
The Nittany Lions the 17-10 edge in the all-time series. PSU had won nine contests in a row spanning from 2014 to 2021, however, RU has come out on top in the last two meetings.
The Scarlet Knights have earned wins over PSU in back-to-back seasons four times, but the most recent two victories are the first since joining the Big Ten.
Next Up
The Big Ten Tournament Semifinals will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 8. If Rutgers advances, they will play the winner of the No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Ohio State Quarterfinal. That match will be televised 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.
