I
THE DETAILS
Thu., Sept. 21
7 p.m. at Yurcak Field (Piscataway, N.J.)
Rutgers (4-3-2)
vs. No. 4 Penn State (7-0-1)
4 p.m. Tailgate in Yurcak Lot
5:30 p.m. Scarlet Walk outside Ticket Office Gate
BLACK OUT | Wear Black, $1 hot dogs, t-shirt/thunderstick/pin giveaway while supplies last, free caricature artist
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II
PREVIOUSLY ON...
Rutgers erased an early 2-0 deficit at unbeaten Indiana (7-0-2) on Sunday afternoon, but eventually succumbed to a late Hoosier goal in the 85th minute and dropped the Big Ten opener, 3-2.
Gia Girman and
Gia Vicari had the RU goals in the 38th and 52nd minutes.
III
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State is unbeaten at 7-0-1 and starts Big Ten play 1-0 after a 4-0 victory over Maryland on the first match day. In the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, released on Tuesday, Sept. 19, Penn State climbed two spots to the No. 4 position nationally. PSU secured its highest national ranking from the organization since previously landing the No. 4 spot on April 13, 2021, during the COVID-maligned 2020-21 spring campaign. Penn State saw a pair of student-athletes garner Big Ten and national weekly accolades on Tuesday, Sept. 19 with senior+ defender
Kate Wiesner snagging Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors while senior defender
Eva Alonso garnered a placement on the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week.
Fifteen different Nittany Lions have scored a point, led by Olivia Borgen's eight on four goals and Payton Linnehan's seven on two goals and three assists. Katherine Asman has had the lion's share of goalkeeping minutes with four shutouts, two combined shutouts, a 0.15 goals against average in 616 minutes, and a .958 save percentage.
Rutgers is 9-11-4 all-time against Penn State, including a 5-2-2 mark as Big Ten regular season opponents and a 5-3-3 record overall at Yurcak Field. The two sides have met three times in the NCAA Tournament, with a 2-1 record in favor of the Nittany Lions (Penn State won 3-1 in the second round in 2003, Rutgers won 2-1 in double overtime in the first round in 2008, and Penn State won 2-0 in the 2015 NCAA College Cup semifinals). Penn State has never beaten Rutgers in Piscataway in regulation, last getting a win in double-overtime in 2008.
IV
TIERNAN UP THE DEFENSE
Junior forward
Riley Tiernan has two goals and two assists on the 2023 season, but the stat line doesn't tell the full story of the superstar from Voorhees, New Jersey. The highlight reel also shows elite ball skills in the attacking third, and the premonitions of said skills drawing double and triple teams from opposing backs - opening up opportunities and chances for her teammates.
"I don't really care much about my personal stats," Tiernan said. "It's more about getting the results for the team. So I want to put myself into dangerous spots, whether I'm getting the ball or not, making plays, being creative, and to put pressure on the other team to allow us to be more successful in the attack."
The 2021 Big Ten Rookie of the Year has been named on the United Soccer Coaches National Players to Watch list for forwards for the second consecutive season. Tiernan was one of three Big Ten players on the national watch list, joining Rebecca Cooke from Penn State and Sarah Weber from Nebraska. Tiernan earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team and All-Big Ten Third Team accolades during her sophomore season in 2022. The striker has 19 career assists, already good for eighth place in the RU record book.
"We always say that our next game is the most important game of the year," Tiernan said. "We need to continie to be vocal with each other and continue to stay focused. We have a lot of core values we go over during meetings, and I think we changed our dynamic at practice because of that. Everyone works 10 times harder. We're there to learn and get better. And I think everyone's locked in and knows how it feels to lose and knows how it feels to win. And we all obviously like winning much more."
Tiernan was at the middle of the 2021 College Cup run and the best start to any season at 9-0-0 in 2022. She helped set the standards, and now is assuming a leadership role in resetting the group when those standards have not lived up to their own expectations to start 2023.
"My sister [assistant coach
Madison Richard] always says you don't have to respect us, but you will fear us," Tiernan said. "We use that as motivation. I think that a lot of teams overlook Rutgers and kind of laugh in the face of Rutgers sometimes. And I think that we should just take that and use that as ammunition to come out and work harder than every other team. And no matter how talented another team is compared to us, we're just going to be hungrier and we're going to have more of that bite than they do. And that's going to get us the results that we want in the end."
V
HATS OFF
Senior forward
Allison Lowrey netted Rutgers' first hat trick since 2019 in the 7-0 victory over FDU on Aug. 31. The trio of goals gave the Bridgewater, New Jersey native a team-high five on the season, which ranks third in the Big Ten. Lowrey now has 20 career goals with the Scarlet Knights.
VI
THE SLATE
Rutgers is facing a top-five ranked team for the first time since dropping a hard-fought 1-0 final score against eventual national champions and No. 1 ranked Florida State in the NCAA College Cup national semifinals in 2021. It is the second match in a row the Scarlet Knights will face an unbeaten team midway through the regular season after playing at 6-0-2 Indiana on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights topped previously unbeaten Providence, who was 5-0 and did not surrender a single goal, by a 1-0 score on Sept. 7. RU also worked to a scoreless draw at now-ranked No. 14 Princeton, who was 2-0 back on Aug. 31.
The Scarlet Knights also took on CAA champions, Hofstra, on Aug. 20, NEC champions, FDU, on Aug. 28, and three-time defending Big East champions, Georgetown, on Sept. 4. RU visited NCAA Tournament participants NC State on the road Aug. 24.
VII
MASON MARKS
Junior back
Emily Mason has been named to the
MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for National Player of the Year and a
2023 Player to Watch by United Soccer Coaches. The Flemington, New Jersey native has also been listed on
Top Drawer Soccer's Big Ten Conference preview as one of five Players to Watch, along with an honor on Top Drawer Soccer's Preseason Best XI Third Team.
A Third-Team All-American, All-Big Ten First Team, and All-North Region First Team selection as a sophomore in 2022, Mason turned in 14 matches with the full 90 minutes played, contributing to eight shutouts on the Scarlet Knight defense. The versatile, 5-foot-10 defender has also chipped in on the attack, scoring her first collegiate goal in a 7-0 win against Temple on Sept. 1 and then scoring her first collegiate brace in a 3-0 win at Purdue on Oct. 2. She also added an important assist in the 1-1 draw at then-No. 8 Northwestern on Sept. 29. Mason missed the first two contests of the season while serving with the United States Youth National Team at the U20 World Cup in Costa Rica. She previously won gold with the USYNT at the Concacaf Women's Championship and the Sud Ladies Cup in 2021.
VIII
THE ARMBANDS
Rutgers women's soccer head coach
Mike O'Neill has named
Becci Fluchel,
Allison Lynch, and
Emma Misal as captains of the 2023 Scarlet Knights squad.
The trio has been at the center of Rutgers' sustained success over the past four years, which included consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, the undefeated 2021 Big Ten Championship, and the run to the 2021 NCAA College Cup. Fluchel and Misal enter their senior seasons, while Lynch returns for her fifth year "On the Banks." This high-performing group has been part of a backline that allowed just 12 goals in 18 regular-season games in 2022, including only three during the historic 9-0 start to the year.
Lynch returns for her second captainship in her fifth year with nearly 7,000 minutes of action on defense for the Scarlet Knights. She led the team with 88.2 minutes per game in 2022. Not shy to move forward, Lynch scored an important goal in a 2-2 draw with Minnesota last fall and carries nine career points on three goals and three assists into her final season. The Bridgewater, New Jersey native played all 90 minutes in 17 of her 20 games last season, including the final 15 of the campaign.
Misal earns her first captain's armband after being named Third Team All-Big Ten as a back in 2022. The defender from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania has contributed to one of the nation's top defenses over the past three years, chipping in on five Rutgers shutouts last fall. Misal worked back from a training camp injury to earn a starting job during the season's final 12 matches, which included 85-plus minute efforts in the last four games.
IX
CHASING HISTORY
Riley Tiernan (6) and Sara Brocious (7) led in assists last season and are marching up the record book in career helpers at RU. Tiernan is tied for eighth all-time with 19 and needs four more to enter the Top 5. Brocious has 17 career assists, breaking into the Top 10 in a tie with RU greats Carli Lloyd and Taylor Aylmer. The all-time assist record at Rutgers is 29 set by Gina DeMaio from 2006-10.
X
NEW KIDS "ON THE BANKS"
Rutgers women's soccer head coach Mike O'Neill welcomes 11 freshmen to the program for the 2023 season, including nine hailing from New Jersey. The class includes Brianna Azevedo, Ashley Baran, Ava Brass, Audrey Cain, Elliot Forney, Gabriela Gil, Alyssa Martinez, Reilly McGlinn, Shannon Reiser, Olivia Russomanno, and Tehya Scheuten.
This standout group includes a New Jersey Player of the Year, All-Americans, multiple national and state champions at the high school and club levels, and numerous All-State honorees.
Baran scored her first collegiate goal against FDU on Aug. 28, while Russomanno picked up her first point with an assist in that 7-0 victory. The rookie teammates have played in all nine matches to start their Rutgers careers.
XI
LIVING 'VICARI'OUSLY
Rutgers women's soccer welcomes impact transfer
Gia Vicari to the 2023 roster. The Georgetown transfer and dynamic forward will be a graduate student at Rutgers and will play her final year of eligibility "On the Banks" after leading the nationally ranked and three-time Big East champion Hoyas in scoring over the past three seasons.
Vicari is coming off a 2022 season that earned Second Team All-East Region honors from United Soccer Coaches, along with All-Big East First Team honors after leading Georgetown with six goals and four assists during a 15-2-5 season. The Hoyas won the 2022 Big East Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, ending the season ranked No. 19.
Vicari picked up her first Rutgers goal in the 7-0 victory over FDU on Aug. 28.
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