Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer

For information on all Rutgers University–New Brunswick sports, see Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. Rutgers's first varsity's men's soccer team was fielded in 1938, although organized soccer has been played at the university since at least 1869. The team plays its home games at Yurcak Field in New Brunswick. The Knights are coached by Jim McElderry.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer
2023 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer team
Founded	1938; 87 years ago (1938)[n 1]
University	Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Head coach	Jim McElderry (5th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	New Brunswick, New Jersey
Stadium	Yurcak Field (Capacity: 5,000)
Nickname	Scarlet Knights
Colors	Scarlet[8]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament runner-up
1990
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1989, 1990, 1994
NCAA Tournament appearances
1960, 1961, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2022
Conference Tournament championships
1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2022

History

"The Foot-Ball Match", Chronicle of the first game at The Targum, Nov 1869

Rutgers (in black kit) v Maryland match in 2021

The origins of Rutgers soccer trace back to 1869, where the first ever collegiate football game was played in the United States. The then-Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) played an exhibition match that ended in a 6–4 result.^[9][10] Rutgers won the game by a score of 6–4^[11] In addition to being considered one of the earlier soccer games reported in the United States, these two games are considered to be the first organized American college football games to ever be played.^[12][13]

Rutgers' first varsity team was fielded in 1938,^[1] where they Knights competed as an independent team. Rutgers remained unaffiliated with any formal athletic conference and was considered an independent until joining the Atlantic 10 Conference as an associate soccer member in the mid-1980s. The Knights Big East Conference for soccer in 1995.^[14] On July 1, 2014, Rutgers became a member of the Big Ten athletic conference, after paying an $11.5 million exit fee to the American Athletic Conference (which formed as a result of the splitting of the Big East Conference).^[15][16]

Players

Current roster

As of 9 Sep 2024^[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK  USA Aurie Briscoe 1 GK  USA Ciaran Dalton 2 DF  USA Sawyer Koza 3 DF  USA Devon Stopek 4 DF  USA Nick Collins 5 DF  ISL Arnar Adalsteinsson 6 DF  ENG Scott Godden 7 DF  USA Joey Zalinsky 8 MF  USA Cole Cruthers 9 MF  USA Curt Calov 10 FW  USA Ian Abbey 11 FW  CAN Anthony Morano 12 MF  USA Lenny Aviles 13 MF  USA Thomas Angelone

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 FW  USA Nico Rosamilia 16 MF  USA Dylan Carlson 17 FW  NOR Ola Maeland 18 FW  USA Illia Tyrkus 19 FW  USA Eddie Krupski 21 MF  USA Nestor Cabrera 22 MF  USA Francesco Di Ponzio 23 DF  USA Aidan Flynn 24 FW  USA Matty Lynch 26 DF  USA Erick Ruiz 29 DF  USA Bryan Keating 31 GK  USA Graham Kois 32 GK  USA Andrew Noel 88 MF  ISL Kristófer Arnarsson

All-Americans

Rutgers has produced eight All-Americans.^[18]

Player	Pos.	Year
Alexi Lalas	D	1991
Dave Masur	MF	1983, 1984
Steve Rammel	FW	1990
Richard Schiesswohl	MF	1966
Herb Schmidt	FW	1966
Mike Shaw	MF	1996
Peter Vermes	DF	1987
Bill Walsh	FW	1997
Jason Wright	MF	2014

Coaches

Head coaching history

There have been six coaches in Rutgers' history.

Years	Coach	GP	W	L	T	Pct.
1938–1970	George Dochat	278	141	116	21	.545
1971–1974	J. William Maytas	47	10	32	5	.266
1975–1980	Kalman Caspo	75	26	41	8	.400
1980*	Geza Kiss	4	2	1	1	.625
1981–2009	Bob Reasso	606	351	184	71	.638
2010–2018	Dan Donigan	112	46	55	11	.460
2019–present	Jim McElderry	98	41	40	17	.505

* Geza Kiss was an interim coach.

Honours

• Big Ten tournament
  • Winners (1): 2022
• NCAA Division I Championship
  • Runners-up (1): 1990

Notes

1. Although Rutgers fielded its first soccer team in 1938,^[1] the first de facto college football game held in 1869 between Ruters and Princeton Universities (with rules based on The Football Association)^[2][3][4] is considered the first "not official" collegiate soccer match and the birth of the sport in the United States.^[5][6][7]