PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's soccer (8-5-2, 3-4-1 B1G) will battle Michigan State (5-7-2, 2-4-2 B1G) on Friday night at 7 p.m. to celebrate Halloween at Yurcak Field.
The contest will be available to stream on B1G+ and fans can listen on WRSU.
Last Time Out
The Scarlet Knights's comeback fell short at UCLA (4-6-4, 4-3-2 B1G) on the road Friday night, as the team dropped a 5-2 decision.
UCLA netted two goals in under a minute in the final moments of the first 45 minutes to take the 2-0 edge into the break.
However, Rutgers came out on the offensive in the second half. Francesco Di Ponzio netted his first goal of the season in the 54th minute to cut the advantage in half.
Less than a minute later, Nick Collins found the back of the net to tie it up with a header from a cross by Joschi Schelb.
The Bruins stayed aggressive though, scoring two more goals in the following minutes and one more in the 67th to go up, 5-2 and eventually come away with the victory.
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 60 career games in net. He's also fifth all-time with 222 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 (5), Kitch (3), Boumsong (3) 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 started 15 and 14 games on the backline, respectively. Jude Essuman and Joshua Jerome have each found the back of the net as well.
Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State hasn't picked up a win in its last five games, with their last victory coming against then-No. 5 Michigan, 2-1, on Sept. 26.
Merritt Miles and Peter Soudan lead the Spartans with eight points each, both recording three goals and two assists.
Up Next
Rutgers will finish out the 2025 regular season at No. 17 Indiana on Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.
Follow Along
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