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PISCATAWAY, N.J. \u2013 The Rutgers men’s soccer team (4-2-1, 1-1 B1G) will return to Yurcak Field to host FDU (4-2-2) on Tuesday, Sept. 23. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The contest will be available to stream on B1G+. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Time Out\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Scarlet Knights fell in a close contest to\u00a0Northwestern (5-2-1, 1-1-0 B1G), 2-1,\u00a0in its Big Ten road opener on Sept. 19. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wildcats netted two goals in the first 18 minutes of the contest. In the 30th minute,\u00a0Thomas Angelone<\/a>\u00a0crossed a ball into the box, but NU misplayed the ball, scoring an own goal to make the score 2-1. \u00a0<\/p>\n 30′ | Rutgers gets one back! <\/p>\n Northwestern still leads, 2-1<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa B1G+ \u2014 Rutgers Men’s Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) September 20, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n RU stayed aggressive however, generating multiple opportunities and ended the opening half with an 8-3 advantage in shots. \u00a0<\/p>\n After a slow start to the second half, Rutgers exploded in the final minutes of play as Joschi Schleb had a late penalty kick opportunity but could not convert. In addition,\u00a0Sawyer Koza<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Amer Lukovic<\/a>\u00a0registered dangerous shots.\u00a0Andrew Kitch<\/a>\u00a0then found the back of the net with just 32 seconds remaining but was called back after video review. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After all the craziness, Northwestern still came out with a 2-1 victory. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2025 Team Captains\u00a0<\/p>\n Cole Cruthers<\/a> will return as a captain for the fall 2025 campaign after donning the arm band last season as a junior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition, Cruthers will be supported by a leadership group including Devon Stopek<\/a>, Erick Ruiz<\/a>, Ciaran Dalton<\/a> and Joschi Schelb<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Books\u00a0<\/p>\n Goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton<\/a> 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pearl River, New York native currently ranks fifth all-time with 54 career games in net. He also moved up to eighth all-time with 192 career saves, just seven\u00a0stops away from seventh place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Returners\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n RU returns seven players who started 10 or more games last season, including six who registered points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ciaran Dalton<\/a> and Devon Stopek<\/a> started every game of the 2024 slate while Nick Collins<\/a> (16), Nestor Cabrera<\/a> (15), Scott Godden<\/a> (15), Arnar Adalsteinsson<\/a> (13) and Cole Cruthers<\/a> (11) also all started double-digit games for the Scarlet Knights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Transferring In\u00a0<\/p>\n Rutgers welcomed seven transfers to the team this offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joschi Schelb<\/a> (St. Francis University, Pa.), Camron Boumsong<\/a> (St. John’s University), Andrew Kitch<\/a> (University of North Carolina) and Timo Jansen<\/a> (University of Albany) all joined the team this spring while Logan Brown<\/a> (Clemson), Dan Karsten<\/a> (Lipscomb) and Amer Lukovic<\/a> (Montclair State) came “On The Banks” during the summer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Schelb (6), Karsten (2), Kitch (1), Lukovic (1) and Boumsong (1) have all found the back of the net for the Scarlet Knights so far this campaign. In addition, Jansen has recorded an assist while playing a big role in the midfield.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Introducing the Freshmen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n McElderry and his staff also brought in a big freshmen class of nine players. Jude Essuman<\/a>, Cedric Lemaire<\/a> and Jack Andrus<\/a> joined the Scarlet Knights earlier in the spring of 2025 while Jeffrey Bryjack<\/a>, Simon Gorczowski<\/a>, Jaden Gordon, Joshua Jerome<\/a>, Braxton Montgomery<\/a> and Ailan Panton<\/a> came ahead of preseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n Montgomery and Andrus started all seven games on the backline this slate while Essuman netted a goal for RU.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Scouting FDU\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After going without a win in three consecutive outings, FDU defeated Columbia (1-0) in its most recent contest. \u00a0<\/p>\n Luke Ayaz leads the team with three goals for six points. Matheus Franca has started most games in net (6), accumulating 15 saves and two clean sheets. \u00a0<\/p>\n Rutgers owns the 16-7-6 advantage in the all-times series versus FDU. \u00a0<\/p>\n Up Next\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Rutgers will remain home and get back to Big Ten play against Ohio State on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.\u00a0
\ud83d\udcca https:\/\/t.co\/As69P8Zosc<\/a> #GoRU<\/a> | #RUMS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WjDbBE3YDw<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nFollow 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<\/a>). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter (@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (www.facebook.com\/RutgersAthletics<\/a>). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n