Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos
The Buck Stops Here: Ciaran Dalton’s Historic Freshmen Campaign for Men's Soccer
Apr 20 | Men's Soccer
PISCATWAY, N.J. – After Rutgers men's soccer head coach Jim McElderry announced that senior goalkeeper Oren Asher would miss the 2022 fall due to a season-ending shoulder injury, the question of who would fill the gap in net could not be ignored. One goalkeeper though came to the forefront and solidified his role as the main netminder.
Right from the get-go freshman, Ciaran Dalton made a strong impression on the Scarlet Knights coaching staff. Dalton started the first game of the season at Omaha (Aug. 25), winning 4-2 and picking up two saves in his collegiate debut.
The freshman would end up posting an 8-3-5 record throughout his opening campaign, while totaling a 1.36 goals against average, good for fourth in the Big Ten. In addition, Dalton recorded 53 saves and .707 save percentage while facing a total of 179 shots in 16 games played. He also posted three shutouts in 2022 to rank fifth in the conference.
The former New York Red Bulls U17 and PDA product was one of eleven players to play over 1,000 minutes last fall, totaling 1,460 minutes between the pipes.
"I knew that I put in the work during training and before I played in any games," Dalton said. "Going into any game, there was a buildup of confidence. I knew that I could play well and that putting the work into getting where I wanted to be ended up working out."
After a 2-2 draw to Indiana and a 2-0 shutout win versus Stony Brook, Dalton would start every game for the rest of the season, which included the entirety of both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Winning six of nine starts from October 9 onwards, the Pearl River, New York native solidified himself as the solution to the goalkeeper position.
Dalton started crucial conference matchups that ultimately helped Rutgers to become the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, the highest in program history. With late season wins against Michigan and Penn State, the freshman allowed just two goals and recorded a total of nine saves in back-to-back 2-1 victories.
"Those two games were the most crucial games all season, besides the Big Ten Tournament games we would eventually play," Dalton added. "Both of those games were tough, and I remember them very well. The big part was getting winning results in those two games in order to help boost up the team's confidence heading into the Big Ten Tournament."
Rutgers finished conference play with a 4-2-2 record and hosted No. 7 seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
After 110 minutes of stellar play, Dalton faced 11 shots and turned aside two that directly went on goal to force a shootout to decide the fate of the season. Dalton shifted towards his right and stuck up his left hand to make the save of the game which eventually led to the 5-4 shootout win and a trip to the Big Ten Semifinals.
Against Ohio State came more of a challenge, as Dalton started against the No. 3-seeded Buckeyes in a 2-2 draw back in September. For the first time in nearly two months, the freshman would face one of the Big Ten's finest yet again. In 90 minutes, Dalton allowed one goal but stood tall with five saves as three of them came in the first half alone.
Dalton's solid performance yet again allowed Rutgers to score the go-ahead-goal in the second half to eventually defeat the Buckeyes 2-1 in regulation. The Scarlet Knights would go on to host the No. 4 seed Indiana in the program's first ever Big Ten Championship game, where the freshman starter had the chance to contribute versus a perennial Big Ten Championship team.
Against the Hoosiers, Rutgers controlled the pace of play from start to finish. Dalton made four saves in 90 minutes and was able to push RU to net two scores in the second half. As Rutgers would win 3-1, claiming its first ever Big Ten Championship, the victory would mark the first ever Big Ten title any men's program would win "On The Banks." Dalton is one of many to thank for such a milestone.
"November 13, what a day," said Dalton. "It was a battle with Indiana, and we knew they were a good team. We tied with them earlier in the season and we anticipated a great rematch. I was relieved when we beat them, especially when that second half gave us an edge with the two goals, we scored in order to win."
Dalton, along with teammates Jackson Temple and Chris Tiao were named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team for their strong performances throughout the postseason. In three tournament games, Dalton helped his team to three victories at Yurcak Field, making 11 saves and allowing just two goals. Dalton was also named at the Big Ten All-Freshman squad.
McElderry has had nothing but praise for the new kid on the block. When entrusting Dalton to become the team's starter as a freshman, the Rutgers bench boss knew what he was capable of the minute he stepped onto the pitch in Piscataway.
"Ciaran is a player on our team who had great ability upon arrival to Rutgers," McElderry said. "He makes difficult saves, kicks very well and knows how to manage a game. One quality we look for in all of our recruits is that they love to train. Ciaran is definitely one of those types of players. He wants to be on the field and working on his goalkeeping craft all of the time. I believe this is what gives him his high level of confidence, especially when playing in difficult games against the best opponents."
McElderry sees a bright future for the underclassman, foreshadowing a goalkeeper who can not only impress for years to come in the Big Ten, but on the professional stage, as well.
"Our strength coach is working with Ciaran to get even stronger," added McElderry. "I think if he can work hard in the gym, he has unlimited potential to be the top goalkeeper in our conference and have a professional career once his job is done with us at Rutgers."
Dalton sees McElderry in the same light and gives a lot of credit to the head coach and his staff for the start Dalton has had to his collegiate career.
"Coach McElderry has been great and the whole coaching staff has been awesome here," Dalton said. "Our goalie coach, Tyler Stackiwicz was my club coach before coming to Rutgers. Both Coach McElderry and Coach Stackiwicz push me to get better every day and I am very grateful for both of them."
As Dalton stood out and took over the goalkeeper's position, his durability throughout his freshman season has paid off with great results and standout status.
"It was an awesome year," Dalton added. "Even though we had a slow start to the season, we knew we had the potential to make a run. Once it got towards the end of the year, we were able to get things together and make the run we eventually did."
It is fair to say that this men's soccer program has found a strong leader, teammate and goalkeeper for years to come. His name is Ciaran Dalton.
Right from the get-go freshman, Ciaran Dalton made a strong impression on the Scarlet Knights coaching staff. Dalton started the first game of the season at Omaha (Aug. 25), winning 4-2 and picking up two saves in his collegiate debut.
The freshman would end up posting an 8-3-5 record throughout his opening campaign, while totaling a 1.36 goals against average, good for fourth in the Big Ten. In addition, Dalton recorded 53 saves and .707 save percentage while facing a total of 179 shots in 16 games played. He also posted three shutouts in 2022 to rank fifth in the conference.
The former New York Red Bulls U17 and PDA product was one of eleven players to play over 1,000 minutes last fall, totaling 1,460 minutes between the pipes.
"I knew that I put in the work during training and before I played in any games," Dalton said. "Going into any game, there was a buildup of confidence. I knew that I could play well and that putting the work into getting where I wanted to be ended up working out."
After a 2-2 draw to Indiana and a 2-0 shutout win versus Stony Brook, Dalton would start every game for the rest of the season, which included the entirety of both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Winning six of nine starts from October 9 onwards, the Pearl River, New York native solidified himself as the solution to the goalkeeper position.
24' | 🧱🧱🧱🧱
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 12, 2022
Ciaran Dalton denies the penalty kick to keep the Scarlet Knights in the lead!
🎥 https://t.co/Rqcz7cMFdQ
📻 https://t.co/dDY6dSEEgN
📊 https://t.co/3WAx3Lzlhq
Rutgers 1, Stony Brook 0#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/cGF8ZRrtWm
Dalton started crucial conference matchups that ultimately helped Rutgers to become the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, the highest in program history. With late season wins against Michigan and Penn State, the freshman allowed just two goals and recorded a total of nine saves in back-to-back 2-1 victories.
49' | Denied. 🔒
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 26, 2022
Ciaran Dalton is in the zone with six saves in net, just one shy of his career high, including this point blank stop!
📺 @BigTenNetwork (https://t.co/duTHs9zpzd)
📊 https://t.co/SwWcftmqgo
📰 https://t.co/TR5qCF77OV#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/QPeiQCXlIR
"Those two games were the most crucial games all season, besides the Big Ten Tournament games we would eventually play," Dalton added. "Both of those games were tough, and I remember them very well. The big part was getting winning results in those two games in order to help boost up the team's confidence heading into the Big Ten Tournament."
Rutgers finished conference play with a 4-2-2 record and hosted No. 7 seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
After 110 minutes of stellar play, Dalton faced 11 shots and turned aside two that directly went on goal to force a shootout to decide the fate of the season. Dalton shifted towards his right and stuck up his left hand to make the save of the game which eventually led to the 5-4 shootout win and a trip to the Big Ten Semifinals.
PK's | Dalton makes a huge stop and Tommy DeVizio followed up with a score!!
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) November 5, 2022
Wisconsin ✔️✖️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Rutgers ✔️✔️⚪️⚪️⚪️
📻 https://t.co/G8ruwEopqT
📺 https://t.co/Q2TBsf9f4X
📊 https://t.co/iq5Ea6GQTn#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/fa7LfsTytY
Against Ohio State came more of a challenge, as Dalton started against the No. 3-seeded Buckeyes in a 2-2 draw back in September. For the first time in nearly two months, the freshman would face one of the Big Ten's finest yet again. In 90 minutes, Dalton allowed one goal but stood tall with five saves as three of them came in the first half alone.
Dalton's solid performance yet again allowed Rutgers to score the go-ahead-goal in the second half to eventually defeat the Buckeyes 2-1 in regulation. The Scarlet Knights would go on to host the No. 4 seed Indiana in the program's first ever Big Ten Championship game, where the freshman starter had the chance to contribute versus a perennial Big Ten Championship team.
14' | Ciaran Dalton comes up with a huge stop on a set piece right outside the box!
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) November 9, 2022
📻 https://t.co/G8ruwEopqT
📺 https://t.co/O4WwulMmrl (@BigTenNetwork)
📊 https://t.co/4bxrxQSuLv#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/2neoO1MmTe
Against the Hoosiers, Rutgers controlled the pace of play from start to finish. Dalton made four saves in 90 minutes and was able to push RU to net two scores in the second half. As Rutgers would win 3-1, claiming its first ever Big Ten Championship, the victory would mark the first ever Big Ten title any men's program would win "On The Banks." Dalton is one of many to thank for such a milestone.
"November 13, what a day," said Dalton. "It was a battle with Indiana, and we knew they were a good team. We tied with them earlier in the season and we anticipated a great rematch. I was relieved when we beat them, especially when that second half gave us an edge with the two goals, we scored in order to win."
Dalton, along with teammates Jackson Temple and Chris Tiao were named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team for their strong performances throughout the postseason. In three tournament games, Dalton helped his team to three victories at Yurcak Field, making 11 saves and allowing just two goals. Dalton was also named at the Big Ten All-Freshman squad.
𝘽𝙞𝙜 𝙏𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙡-𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) November 4, 2022
The freshmen were not playing around this season👀
Cole Cruthers, Ian Abbey and Ciaran Dalton each secure spots on the All-Big Team Freshman Team✅
📰: https://t.co/cPrAYIqoGu#GoRU | #RUMS | #B1GMSOC pic.twitter.com/blOdT7qb0U
McElderry has had nothing but praise for the new kid on the block. When entrusting Dalton to become the team's starter as a freshman, the Rutgers bench boss knew what he was capable of the minute he stepped onto the pitch in Piscataway.
"Ciaran is a player on our team who had great ability upon arrival to Rutgers," McElderry said. "He makes difficult saves, kicks very well and knows how to manage a game. One quality we look for in all of our recruits is that they love to train. Ciaran is definitely one of those types of players. He wants to be on the field and working on his goalkeeping craft all of the time. I believe this is what gives him his high level of confidence, especially when playing in difficult games against the best opponents."
McElderry sees a bright future for the underclassman, foreshadowing a goalkeeper who can not only impress for years to come in the Big Ten, but on the professional stage, as well.
"Our strength coach is working with Ciaran to get even stronger," added McElderry. "I think if he can work hard in the gym, he has unlimited potential to be the top goalkeeper in our conference and have a professional career once his job is done with us at Rutgers."
Dalton sees McElderry in the same light and gives a lot of credit to the head coach and his staff for the start Dalton has had to his collegiate career.
"Coach McElderry has been great and the whole coaching staff has been awesome here," Dalton said. "Our goalie coach, Tyler Stackiwicz was my club coach before coming to Rutgers. Both Coach McElderry and Coach Stackiwicz push me to get better every day and I am very grateful for both of them."
As Dalton stood out and took over the goalkeeper's position, his durability throughout his freshman season has paid off with great results and standout status.
"It was an awesome year," Dalton added. "Even though we had a slow start to the season, we knew we had the potential to make a run. Once it got towards the end of the year, we were able to get things together and make the run we eventually did."
It is fair to say that this men's soccer program has found a strong leader, teammate and goalkeeper for years to come. His name is Ciaran Dalton.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Soccer
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/ Men's Soccer
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MF
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