PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's soccer is set to host Fairfield on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Yurcak Field. 

Match Details
Rutgers (1-0-0) vs. Fairfield (1-0-0)
5 p.m. | Sunday, Aug. 17
Yurcak Field (Piscataway, N.J.) 
Stream: B1G+ (Dom Savino & Kristian Dyer)

Head Coach Mike O'Neill leads the Scarlet Knights in his 12th season, as the Scarlet Knights qualified for their 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament in 2024 with an 11-win campaign and appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game. They have qualified for the conference tournament all 11 years in the Big Ten. 

Last Time Out
Rutgers took care of business in its season opener, downing NJIT by a score of 3-0 on Thursday night at Yurcak Field. With the win, RU is now undefeated in its last 23 home openers. 

Patricia Tsokos opened the scoring with her first goal as a Scarlet Knight to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute. Last year's leading goal scorer Ashley Baran doubled the lead with her first of the season on an assist from Nata Ramirez. Holding a comfortable 2-0 lead late in the contest, Ramirez send in a corner that went in on a touch from true freshman back Sophia Stiles, who found the net for her first career goal in her first career game. A graduate transfer from Columbia, Ramirez dished out a pair of assists in her first action for RU. 

2025 Notes 

• Rutgers started a pair of true freshman against NJIT in F Kennedi Cotter and B Lindsey Hailey, the first time since 2021 the Scarlet Knights started multiple true freshmen in a season opener.
• 23 different players saw action against NJIT, with 15 players making their Rutgers debut and nine making their collegiate debut.
• Sophia Stiles scored her first career goal against NJIT. 
• Patricia Tsokos scored her first Rutgers goal against NJIT. 
• Ashley Baran scored her 10th career goal against NJIT, the most Rutgers goals by a current player. 
• After two assists against NJIT, Nata Ramirez sits at 59 career points (21 goals, 17 assists). 

Roster Composition
RU will head into the 2025 campaign with a roster of 29 student-athletes, comprising of 15 returners and 14 newcomers (nine freshmen, five transfers). 

Among the returners is goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer, who started all 21 matches a season ago as a team captain, leading goal scorer Ashley Baran and Patricia Tsokos, who played every match as a key cog in the back line. 

Of the five incoming transfers, a pair join Rutgers from Columbia in back Marcia Ojo and midfielder/forward Nata Ramirez. Two more former teammates transferred in from Arkansas in midfielder/forward Morgan Hippeli and forward Emma Johns. Former TCU midfielder/forward Abigail Cox rounds out the transfer class, with all five bringing high major and NCAA Tournament experience to the locker room. 

More on the team's nine freshmen can be found here and here. 

Captains
O'Neill recently named Olivia Bodmer, Gabriela Gil and Allie Post as team captains for the Scarlet Knights in 2025. 

The trio has played a key part in the Scarlet Knights continuing their streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. 
 
"Olivia, Gabi and Allie exemplify what it means to be captains in the Rutgers Women's Soccer program," O'Neill said. "Their leadership set the standard for our team culture—built on trust, accountability and a relentless effort on a daily basis. Through their voice, positive example, and unwavering dedication, they've established an environment where every player is supported and driven to compete together to win the day."

Big Ten Players to Watch 
Forward Ashley Baran, goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer and midfielder/forward Nata Ramirez were all named Big Ten Players to Watch by the conference. 

Baran led the Scarlet Knights in 2024 with six goals, adding an assist to give her 13 points on the season, second-most on the team. Starting all 21 games at goalkeeper in 2024, Bodmer posted seven solo (eight combined) shutouts, a 0.99 GAA and made 73 saves. Ramirez was named First Team All-Ivy and Second Team All-Region in 2024 after leading the Columbia with both seven goals and eight assists for 22 points on the campaign.

Scouting the Schedule 
The Scarlet Knights are set to take on nine teams that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including three nonconference foes in Fairfield, Princeton and UConn as well as defending Big Ten champions UCLA. 

Additional nonconference home matches include Air Force on Aug. 24 at 2 p.m. and UConn on Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. The Scarlet Knights will travel to Princeton on Aug. 22 and Providence on Sept. 6 before entering the Big Ten portion of their schedule. 
 
Conference play kicks off against Michigan State at Yurcak Field on Sept. 12 and RU will have five total home Big Ten matches and six away matches. The full conference schedule is Michigan State (Sept. 12), at Minnesota (Sep. 18),  Indiana (Sept. 21), at UCLA (Sept. 25), at USC (Sept. 28), Penn State (Oct. 4 or 5), at Illinois (Oct. 9), at Northwestern (Oct. 12), Ohio State (Oct. 16), Michigan (Oct. 19) and at Maryland (Oct. 26). 
 

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