This week was monumental off the playing fields for Rutgers Athletics, as the debut of the Athletics Excellence Fund strongly demonstrated Keli Zinn’s dedication to funding Rutgers’ revenue-sharing and R NIL initiatives. On the fields and courts, Rutgers’ fall sports saw another busy week of action and are gearing up for another one. Here is your weekly one-stop shop for all the news, schedules, and scores from around Scarlet Knights sports.
Men’s golf was back in action at the Marquette Intercollegiate,
where Lucas Politano finished inside the top 10 at the Marquette Intercollegiate with rounds of 77, 74, and 71 for a total of 222, which was six over par. Rutgers finished with a team total of 1,387, which was 45 over par, with key contributions from graduate transfer Jeffrey Zatorski (229, +13), sophomore Argyle Downes (231, +15), and sophomore Bennett Espenshade (230, +14).
Next up for the program is the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, which will take place in Vero Beach, Florida, from Sunday, October 20th to Monday, October 21st.
Women’s tennis will compete at the ITA Regionals from Oct. 9-14, with the Scarlet Knights bringing all nine members of their team in hopes of qualifying for the ITA Sectional Championships. Rutgers recently got 14 wins at the UNC Charlotte Invite, five in singles, and nine in doubles.
The duo of Mai Nguyen and Naomi Karki stayed undefeated at the UNC Charlotte Invite and will bring their win streak into the ITA Regionals. Nguyen was honored as the “Most Improved Player” in the Northeast, while transfer Zuzanna Frankowska was named to the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Players to Watch list.
Women’s soccer will be back in action tonight when they visit Illinois at 8 PM Eastern. The Scarlet Knights dropped their last game to Penn State 2-1 at Yurcak Field, despite Kennedi Cotter scoring her second goal of the season off of Julia Joseph’s first career assist. Olivia Bodmer also matched her season high with eight saves.
The Scarlet Knights have a big challenge on their hands when they battle Illinois, as the Fighting Illini are 10-2-1 overall, with a 3-2-1 record in Big Ten play. Recently, the Illini defeated #18 Penn State 4-3, fell to #23 Ohio State 3-0, and bounced back with a 2-1 win over Maryland.
Rutgers concludes their Illinois road trip when it faces the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston on Sunday at 2 PM Eastern. Northwestern is 5-2-6 on the season and 1-1-4 in Big Ten play, most recently falling to Penn State 2-1 before shutting out Nebraska 3-0.
Men’s soccer drew #11 Michigan 0-0 on Sunday in Ann Arbor, with goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton making five saves to add to his conference-leading total and the back line of the defense holding off the Wolverines’ attack. Rutgers mustered just one shot on goal from Camron Bousong, but it was saved by goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson to keep the game scoreless. Rutgers moved into the rankings for the first time this season at #18 in the latest coaches’ poll.
The Scarlet Knights return to the Banks for a home game against Wisconsin for Senior Day, which will start at 7 PM at Yurcak Field. Rutgers men’s soccer goes on the road midweek next week to battle Maryland before hosting the Washington Huskies next Friday night. The team boasts a 7-2-2 record and is 2-1-1 in Big Ten play.
Volleyball got its first Big Ten win of the season over Maryland in four sets last Friday before falling in straight sets to #1 Nebraska in front of a sellout crowd at Jersey Mike’s Arena. It was the biggest weekend in a long time for the program, and the team continues its homestand this weekend with another two big games.
Rutgers will host Northwestern in a “Pink Out” this Friday at 7 PM before battling Illinois on Saturday at 7 PM. Northwestern is 11-5 overall with a conference record of 1-3, most recently dropping four-set matches to Michigan State and then-#10 Minnesota.
Illinois enters this week at 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, having taken down #10 Purdue in four sets. Their lone loss in conference play was a straight-set loss to #7 Wisconsin. Although not ranked, the Illini have received votes in the AVCA Top 25. Following last weekend’s action, the Scarlet Knights are 10-6 and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Field hockey split its weekend games, starting by defeating Michigan State for the tenth straight time on Friday afternoon. Sophie Kuiper scored two goals for Rutgers in her first multi-goal game, while Martha Goodridge, Olivia Fraticelli, and Dani Gindville added one goal each. Kuiper and Fraticelli are now tied for the Rutgers lead with six goals scored apiece, and Emily Nicholls made four saves in the 5-0 shutout victory over the Spartans.
On Sunday, the Scarlet Knights fell to another ranked opponent, with the #12 Michigan Wolverines taking down Rutgers 2-1 in Ann Arbor. Olivia de Zwaan put the Scarlet Knights 1-0 off a well-timed pass from Paulina Niklaus in the 38th minute, but Juliette Manzur answered back at the end of the third quarter to tie the game at 1.
A late winner by Abby Tamer gave the hosts a hard-fought victory, sending Rutgers to 7-5 in the season and 2-1 in conference play. Rutgers still moved up one spot in the latest poll, as the Scarlet Knights now rank 14th in the country following the road split. This week, Rutgers is back on the road, taking on the Hoosiers in Bloomington at noon on Friday. The contest will be live-streamed on B1G+.
Both men’s and women’s basketball have released tip times and broadcast designations for their 2025 season schedules, with the college hoops season less than a month away! Both programs have also recently taken the stage at their respective Big Ten media days, so be sure to follow our website for coverage on the events.
Ace Bailey scored 25 points in his NBA preseason debut against the Houston Rockets, with the NBA regular season starting within the month for Bailey’s Jazz, Harper’s Spurs, and the other 28 teams in the league.
This week, Andrew and I had the honor of speaking with Eric LeGrand to discuss his Scarlet Knights Series bourbon partnership with Rutgers University, the state of the program in the bye week, and preview the Rutgers vs. Washington game from all angles. I have attached the article above, which contains the links to the episode on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
In preparation for Friday’s contest against the Huskies, I posted my usual “Opponent Film Room” article with film analysis from Washington’s previous two matchups against Ohio State and Maryland, while Andrew published his game preview, and our usual staff picks article is set to come out shortly as well. Andrew also spoke to Mark Schafer of UW Dawg Pound for a Q&A about the Washington Huskies and where they stand as a team.
As you all know, Rutgers football will resume action coming out of its bye week in Seattle against the Washington Huskies. The game will be broadcast on FS1, with radio coverage on WFAN and WRSU-FM. Andrew and I will have our usual live coverage on Twitter and on the feed, so be sure to follow along and share your thoughts in the game thread like usual, with our usual postgame recap and analysis articles to follow shortly after.
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