PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team will open the 2025 fall season at home, welcoming Providence to Yurcak Field on Thursday, Aug. 21.
The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
Big Ten Preseason Honors
The Big Ten announced its Preseason Players to Watch Tuesday afternoon, including goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton, defender Nick Collins and forward transfer Joschi Schelb.
Dalton played every minute of all 17 games of the 2024 fall season. He finished the slate with 65 saves to rank second in the Big Ten and mark his single season high. He earned two shutouts at Lehigh (Sept. 2) and Michigan State (Nov. 3), his most in a single campaign.
Dalton recorded a season best eight saves at Providence (Sept. 6) and made 3+ saves in 12 contests. He currently sits tied for 10th on the all-time career saves list with 171 stops.
Last fall, Collins started all 16 matches he was available for. He netted his first career goal at Penn State (Oct. 7) to end the season with two points. Collins registered 17 total shots and put five on frame.
Collins had an exciting off season as well, as he was drafted 85th overall by Minnesota United FC in the 2024 MLS Super Draft.
Schelb comes "On The Banks" after two standout seasons at Saint Francis (PA). Hailing from Freiburg, Germany, he was an All-NEC First Team selection after recording 10 goals and eight assists for 28 points. He ended his sophomore campaign with the fifth highest single season points total in program history.
Schelb was named NEC Player of the Week three times, a NEC Prime Performer five times in addition to a CSC Academic All-District Team selection.
2025 Team Captains
Cole Cruthers will return as a captain for the fall 2025 campaign after donning the arm band last season as a junior.
In addition, Cruthers will be supported by a leadership group including Devon Stopek, Erick Ruiz, Ciaran Dalton and Joschi Schelb.
Coming Out Hot
Since McElderry joined RU ahead of the 2019 season, he has started five of the six seasons of his tenure with a win.
During his first season, he led the team to a 1-0 win over Temple before earning 2-0 decisions against Michigan State in the spring of 2021 and Delaware in the fall of the same year. In 2022, McElderry guided RU to a 4-2 victory over Omaha and most recently a 3-1 victory over Northeastern last slate.
In the Books
Goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton has been a mainstay for Rutgers since he joined the team as a freshman. With his senior season in front of him, Dalton has already cemented himself in the Rutgers men's soccer record book.
The Pearl River, New York native currently ranks seventh all-time with 47 games in net during his career. He is also tied for 10th all-time with 171 total career saves.
The Returners
RU returns seven players who started 10 or more games last season, including six who registered points.
Ciaran Dalton and Devon Stopek started every game of the 2024 slate while Nick Collins (16), Nestor Cabrera (15), Scott Godden (15), Arnar Adalsteinsson (13) and Cole Cruthers (11) also all started double-digit games for the Scarlet Knights.
Transferring In
Rutgers welcomed seven transfers to the team this offseason.
Joschi Schelb (St. Francis University, Pa.), Camron Boumsong (St. John's University), Andrew Kitch (University of North Carolina) and Timo Jansen (University of Albany) all joined the team this spring while Logan Brown (Clemson), Dan Karsten (Lipscomb) and Amer Lukovic (Montclair State) came "On The Banks" during the summer.
Introducing the Freshmen
McElderry and his staff also brought in a big freshmen class of nine players. Jude Essuman, Cedric Lemaire and Jack Andrus joined the Scarlet Knights earlier while Jeffrey Bryjack, Simon Gorczowski, Jaden Gordon, Joshua Jerome, Braxton Montgomery and Ailan Panton came ahead of preseason.
Scouting the Friars
Last season, Providence fell in the Big East Tournament Championship to Georgetown (2-1) but went onto the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Clemson (2-0).
Rutgers owns the all-time 10-2-1 record over Providence. RU won eight consecutive contests froom 1997-2004 but fell in the last meeting in Sept. Of 2024, 1-0.
Up Next
Rutgers will begin a four-match road stretch starting at Seton Hall on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m.
Follow Along
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