Men's Soccer Travels to Take on No. 11 Michigan

Sunday, October 5

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2 PM

Rutgers

Michigan

Photo by: Dakota Moyer

Men's Soccer Travels to Take on No. 11 Michigan

Oct 03 | Men's Soccer

Watch Live on B1G+Live Stats

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's soccer team (7-2-1, 2-1 B1G) will travel to face No. 11 Michigan (6-1-2, 2-1 B1G) for a Sunday matinee on Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

The contest will be available to stream on B1G+.

Last Time Out

The Scarlet Knights defeated Monmouth (5-4-1, 2-1-1 CAA), 2-0, on Tuesday night to wrap up nonconference play. RU enters October a perfect 5-0 at home, capping off a three-match home stand with seven collective goals.

The contest started slow, but still yielded opportunities for RU as they out-shot Monmouth 11-1 in the opening half of play. Andrew Kitch led the way with three shots.

The start of the second half was more back and forth until Dan Karsten broke through in the 77th minute for the first goal of the night. The ball started at the feet of Nestor Cabrera, who fed it into the middle to Kitch and eventually to Karsten who struck the ball into the bottom right corner.

Karsten then followed up with another score in the 86th minute in an almost identical fashion with assists from Cabrera and Kitch once again.

Karsten's brace sealed the deal 📬#GoRU | #RUMS pic.twitter.com/MVoXVOGkhE
— Rutgers Men's Soccer (@RUMensSoccer) October 1, 2025

Karsten's brace was the first of his career and the first for RU since 2022.

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 fifth all-time with 56 career games in net. He's also seventh all-time with 204 career saves. Dalton made his 200th career save earlier this campaign against Ohio State (Sept. 26).

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 (7), Karsten (4), Kitch (2), Boumsong (2) and Lukovic (1) have all found the back of the net for the Scarlet Knights so far this campaign. In addition, Jansen has recorded two assists while playing a big role in the midfield.

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 in the spring of 2025 while Jeffrey Bryjack, Simon Gorczowski, Jaden Gordon, Joshua Jerome, Braxton Montgomery and Ailan Panton came ahead of preseason.

Montgomery and Andrus have started 10 and nine games on the backline, respectively. Jude Essuman and Joshua Jerome have each found the back of the net as well.

Scouting the Wolverines

No. 11 Michigan has had a solid season so far, only dropping one contest to Michigan State (2-1) on Sept. 26. On Sept. 13, the Wolverines defeated then-No. 1 Indiana (3-2).

Quin Rogers paces the team with four goals and eight points. RU is 3-8-3 in the all-time series against UM, but tied in their last meeting (1-1).

Up Next

Rutgers will come back to Yurcak Field to face Wisconsin on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.

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.