Rutgers University
Saint Peter's
Men's Soccer Readies for Monday Night Matchup Versus Saint Peter's
Sep 03 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (0-2-1) will return to Yurcak Field on Monday, Sept. 4 to take on Saint Peter's (0-1-2) at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on B1G+.
During the contest, the team will celebrate its student section, the Cavalry, with recognition throughout the night and $1 hotdogs.
CAVALRY KICKOFF MONDAY NIGHT ‼️🐎⚔️
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 2, 2023
⚽️ $1 hotdogs
⚽️ Cavalry t-shirt pick up for first 100 students who sign up
Sign up here ➡️ https://t.co/7ZzVIhRF8G#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/5pI90dHxdk
Last Time Out
Despite a late rally attempt, Rutgers dropped a 2-1 decision to Princeton (1-0) on Friday night. Matthew Acosta scored the lone goal for the Scarlet Knights in the contest.
The Scarlet Knights generated multiple early chances on offense for RU to take an early edge in shots, but it was the Tigers that got on the board first, scoring on its first corner attempt of the game.
Rutgers came out hot in the second half, with Abbey, Francesco Di Ponzio and Luciano Sanchez all putting shots on frame in the opening two minutes. The Scarlet Knights continued attacking and pushed the pace, but Princeton broke through once again, converting on a penalty kick to extend its lead, 2-0, in the 67th minute.
After a chippy middle of the half, RU didn't give up, as Matthew Acosta found the back of the net to cut it back to a one goal deficit, 2-1.
83' | Matt Acosta finds the back of the net to cut into the Tigers' lead, 2-1!
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 2, 2023
📺 https://t.co/LIe08hGAma
📊 https://t.co/SEoAwMs9hB#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/QPqGKffUgC
Rutgers attacked until the final seconds, but Princeton ultimately came out on top, 2-1.
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.
Big Ten Preseason Honors
The Big Ten announced its 2023 men's soccer preseason honors Monday afternoon, naming Matthew Acosta, Jason Bouregy and Joey Zalinsky as Players to Watch. The 2022 Big Ten Tournament Champions were also picked to finish fourth in the conference standings.
.@B1GSoccer Players to 👀
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) August 21, 2023
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This is the second consecutive season Acosta has been chosen as a Big Ten Player to Watch, following an outstanding sophomore season. He scored two goals in the final month of the season against both Penn State (Oct. 25) and Indiana (Nov. 13) in the Big Ten Tournament Championship. In addition, Acosta added three assists for seven total points.
An All-Big Ten and ECAC Second Team pick, Bouregy enjoyed a breakout year last fall. Playing in 20 games and making 16 starts, the senior netted three goals in 2022, including back-to-back Big Ten game-winners versus Northwestern (Sept. 17) and Wisconsin (Sept. 23). He also added eight assists, which tied to pace the team and ranked second in the Big Ten. The Paramus, New Jersey native ended the season with 14 points to rank third for RU.
Zalinsky was another Scarlet Knight who boasted an impressive sophomore year as one of the most important pieces of the Rutgers' defensive unit. The Brick, New Jersey product scored his first career goal against Creighton (Aug. 28) on his only shot on frame all season. Zalinsky also added an assist at Penn State (Oct. 25) to end the season with the first 3 points of his career.
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.
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.
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.
All the rookies have made big impacts on their respective club teams and will continue to play a big part at Rutgers.
Looking Into the Peacocks
After falling to Liberty (3-2) in its season opener, Saint Peter's has drawn its opponent in its two most recent outings, High Point (1-1) and Le Moyne (1-1).
Last year, the Peacocks finished with a 3-10-4 mark, earning victories against St. Francis (Brooklyn), Siena and Iona.
RU owns the 9-1-1 all-time edge over SPU and has not dropped a contest since 1978 when Rutgers fell 9-2. The Scarlet Knights have gone nine matches without a loss to the Peacocks and have outright won the last three meetings.
The two teams last met in 2019 when Rutgers came away with a 2-1 win. The Scarlet Knights have never fallen at home to Peacocks.
Nonconference Schedule
Following Monday's match, Rutgers will face two more nonconference foes before jumping into Big Ten play. The team will travel to face Pac-12 Champion UCLA (Sept. 9) before coming back home to host Columbia (Sept. 13).
The Scarlet Knights will also hit the road to Boston to face Northeastern in their second to last game of the regular season.
Next Up
Rutgers will travel to go up against UCLA (1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET.
