HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (1-0-1) will take a road trip to Virginia to face James Madison (0-2) on Friday, Aug. 29 (7 p.m.) and William & Mary (0-0-1) on Monday, Sept. 1 (6 p.m.).
The match against JMU will be streamed on ESPN+ while the contest versus the Tribe will be available on FloSports.
Last Time Out
The Scarlet Knights tied Seton Hall (1-0-1) on Sunday night in their road opener. Joschi Schelb netted the first goal of the game while freshman Jude Essuman netted the second half equalizer.
Schelb opened scoring in the 18th minute off a pass from Francesco Di Ponzio. The Pirates answered however, to end the half knotted, 1-all.
In the 71st minute, SHU got through again to find the back of the net and take the 2-1 edge. Just 10 minutes later, however, Essuman came up big for the Scarlet Knights with his first collegiate goal to tie the contest, 2-2.
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.
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 49 games in net during his career. He is also 10th all-time with 175 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.
Schelb, Kitch, Jansen and Karsten have all earned starts while Boumsong has come in off the bench.
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.
Andrus and Montgomery both started the first two games of the season while Essuman, Jerome, Gorczowski, Jaeden Gordon and Joshua Jerome have also stepped on the pitch.
Scouting the Dukes
James Madison fell in its first two contests to Fordham (0-1) and Garner-Webb (0-1).
This will be the first-ever meeting between Rutgers and JMU.
Looking Into the Tribe
William & Mary also tied Navy in its season opener, 1-1. Aidan Morrison netted the equalizer in the 70th minute.
W&M will face Campbell (1-1) on Friday, Aug. 29 before facing RU.
This will also be the first meeting in program history between the Scarlet Knights and the Tribe.
Up Next
Rutgers will return to New Jersey to take on another state rival in Princeton on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
Follow Along
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