Rutgers University
UCLA
Men's Soccer Heads West to Take on UCLA
Sep 08 | Men's Soccer
LOS ANGELES – The Rutgers men's soccer team (1-2-1) will head to California on Saturday, Sept. 9 to face UCLA (1-1-1) at 7 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on Pac-12.com in addition to the Pac-12 Now app.
Last Time Out
Rutgers earned its first victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Saint Peter's (0-2-2) on Monday night. Luciano Sanchez and Ian Abbey each found the back of the net in the contest for their first goals of the season. Aurie Briscoe played his first game of the season in net, recording two saves in his first career shutout.
The Scarlet Knights dominated action in the first half, owning the advantage in shots, 10-2. Although RU had a few close chances, the score remained 0-0 at the break.
Rutgers continued to control play in the second half and finally broke through in the 58th minute, as Sanchez scored the first goal of his college career. Jackson Temple and Matthew Acosta both earned assists.
First of many for this guy ⚡️#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/OKkY3SwUwF
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 6, 2023
Then it was Abbey who followed up with a score of his own, this time with help from Curt Calov and Nico Rosamilia. The goal gave the Scarlet Knights the 2-0 edge, a lead they would hold onto for the entire 90 minutes to come out with the win.
Staying patient, staying hungry 😘🏹#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/pVDm1VzuDC
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 5, 2023
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.
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.
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 (4) and assists (2) early in the season.
He has registered a point in all but one game this season, with an assist at Delaware (Aug. 24), a goal against St. John's (Aug. 28) and another helper against Saint Peter's (Sept. 4).
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.
In just four games "On The Banks" Calov has made his impact known, recording a goal and an assist to tie for second on the team with three 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 all four games and making one start. He has also registered two shots so far on 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.
Stopek has started two games on the backline this season while Collins and Ruiz have started one contest apiece on defense. Ruiz has seen action in three games.
Sanchez has been solid at striker as he paces the team with 12 shots and seven attempts on frame. He notched his first goal of his career against Saint Peter's (Sept. 4) after recording an assist in the season opener at Delaware (Aug. 24) for three points.
Scouting the Bruins
After defeating Virginia Tech (4-1) in its season opener, UCLA went winless in its most recent two games, falling to James Madison (0-1) and drawing CSUN (1-1).
In 2022, the Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament, eventually falling to New Hampshire in the Sweet 16.
Saturday's contest will mark the 10th meeting between the two programs, and only the second since 2011, where UCLA owns the 7-1-1 all-time edge. The Bruins earned the win in the last meeting between the squads in 2022, 1-0.
Rutgers' only win came Oct. 14, 1990 with a 2-1 decision. However, later that same year on Dec. 2, UCLA defeated RU in PKs to win the 1990 NCAA National Championship.
Next Up
The Scarlet Knights will return to Yurcak Field to take on Columbia, Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. The team will host its Mental Health Awareness match in addition to celebrating International Student Night with a tailgate.
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.
