Despite Rutgers football being on its first bye week, many fall sports were in action this week, and there was also a lot of news from around the Rutgers community. From a new hire to awards to results
and upcoming schedules, here is your weekly one-stop shop for everything you need to know about Rutgers Athletics.
Women’s tennis will be back in action at the UNC Charlotte Invite from October 3rd to October 5th. The Scarlet Knights left Yale’s Bulldog Invitational with 14 total wins, five in doubles and nine in singles, while Mai Nyguen fell to Giorgia Roselli of Wichita State at the ITA All-Americans tournament in Cary, North Carolina.
Men’s and women’s cross country are set for the Paul Short Run on Lafayette’s campus this Friday. Last Friday morning, both cross country teams competed at the Spartan Invite/B1G Preview in East Lansing, with Rutgers finishing seventh in the men’s 8K and eighth in the women’s 6K.
Micah Lawson was the top finisher on the men’s side with a time of 24:29.6 to finish in 26th overall, while Kelseigh O’Neill finished in 19th place during the women’s race with a time of 21:04.0, and teammate Lorena David finished 21st with a time of 21:04.8 seconds.
Associate Coach Nicol Starks described the opportunity, saying that “Racing on the regional course at Paul Short in a competitive field will give us a good indicator of where we are not just in our region, but on a national level.”
Women’s golf will also be back in action this Saturday at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. Rutgers finished 11th at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational on September 23rd, with redshirt senior Grace Lu leading the Knights with a 31st-place finish, while sophomore Joline Truong finished 34th.
Field hockey had an enormous week, rebounding from its 4-2 loss to Monmouth by topping Ohio State 2-1 last Friday in overtime to open up Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights followed that up by blanking Columbia 8-0 on Sunday, scoring their most goals in a game since 2018. They moved up to #15 nationally following the two wins.
The program won several awards, with Puck Winter winning her second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award, while Martha Goodridge won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The Scarlet Knights are now up to five awards this season in five weeks, which is the most in the Big Ten, with goaltender Emily Nicholls also winning each of the mentioned awards earlier this season.
Winter was also named the National Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career, as she made two defensive saves to force overtime against Ohio State before assisting in the shutout victory over Columbia on both sides of the ball, also scoring two goals and notching an assist in the win. Goodridge scored the game-winning goal for Rutgers against Ohio State, racing up the field and burying a shot past the Buckeyes’ keeper.
Field hockey will be on the road this weekend, as it takes on Michigan State on Friday and #12 Michigan on Sunday. The MSU game will start at 3 PM on B1G+, while Sunday’s game against UM will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network, one of two Rutgers games this season to get that designation, the other being a home contest against #1 Northwestern.
Volleyball had a tough week to open up Big Ten play, dropping back-to-back contests at #7 Wisconsin and #12 Minnesota. The Badgers won in straight sets of 25-17, 25-17, 25-12, while the Golden Gophers had a tougher time, also sweeping the Knights, but with sets of 25-22, 25-13, and 29-27. After posting a 9-3 nonconference record, the schedule has quickly gotten much tougher, with many of the nation’s top teams residing in the Big Ten.
Aspen Maxwell and Zora Hardison have continued to be two of the team’s best players, with Hardison moving into a tie for the team’s most single-season blocks, while Maxwell continues to lead the team in kills. Lily Bolin regularly leads Rutgers in assists, and Alleigh Dutton leads the team in digs.
This week will be a huge home weekend for Rutgers volleyball, with the Scarlet Knights hosting Maryland on Friday and #1 Nebraska on Saturday. Both games will begin at 7 PM at Jersey Mike’s Arena and be broadcast on Big Ten Plus. Saturday’s matchup against the Cornhuskers is officially sold out, although tickets can still be purchased on SeatGeek, with both games being designated Scarlet Outs.
Men’s soccer may be Rutgers’ best fall team, with an overall record of 7-2-1 and a conference record of 2-1. Since their 2-1 loss to Northwestern in Evanston, the team has defeated FDU 3-2, Ohio State 2-0, and Monmouth 2-0. Dan Karsten recorded his first career brace as the Scarlet Knights dominated the Hawks on the statsheet to wrap up nonconference play with a victory.
Rutgers faces a stiff challenge when it travels to Ann Arbor to battle #11 Michigan at 2 PM on Sunday. The Wolverines have an overall record of 6-1-2, which includes a 2-1 record in the Big Ten and a 3-2 win over the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Michigan bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Michigan State by blanking Chicago State 6-0 on Wednesday in its final nonconference game this season.
Women’s soccer dropped its games to #4 UCLA and USC last week despite strong efforts in both contests. Rutgers held the Bruins scoreless through the first half, but was overwhelmed by UCLA’s talent and depth, getting outshot 15-4. The Bruins scored the game’s only goal from a well-executed set piece off a free kick in the 54th minute to take Rutgers down 1-0 late on Thursday night.
On Sunday afternoon, the Trojans took an early 1-0 lead with Jaiden Anderson scoring in the sixth minute. Innis Derrien doubled down for USC in the 27th minute, and Rutgers struggled to maintain possession in the first half. However, in the second half, Mike O’Neill made several substitutions, which led to captain Allie Post heading in a perfectly placed cross from Olivia Russomano to cut the deficit to one goal. Nata Ramirez appeared to have the equalizer, but her shot struck the crossbar in the 84th minute.
The Scarlet Knights fell to 3-3-4 and just 1-3-1 in Big Ten play, with their streak of 13 consecutive NCAA appearances in serious jeopardy following the losses. With #18 Penn State coming to Yurcak Field on Saturday, Rutgers needs to pick up points to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, with the team in 13th place in the conference; only the top ten regular-season teams will have the chance to compete for the Big Ten Championship.
Rutgers wrestling released its 2025-26 season schedule earlier this week, which includes eight matches at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Andrew wrote about the full schedule release, where you can find each opponent, date, and time at this link.
In addition, JMA is set to host the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday, November 1st, which will feature Rutgers wrestlers Dylan Shawver (133) and Lenny Pinto (174). Shawver and Pinto will compete against some of the top wrestlers in the country to kick off the wrestling season, with a home meet against Bloomsburg, Centenary, and Gardner-Webb set for Sunday, November 2nd.
Men’s basketball announced its representatives for the 2025 Big Ten Media Days in Rosemont, Illinois. Point guard Jamichael Davis and forward Dylan Grant will join coach Steve Pikiell in extended media availability sessions before the season begins in November. Both players are among the few returning players from last season’s roster and are expected to be among the team’s top contributors.
Davis has appeared in 63 games and started 21 games for Rutgers and is expected to be the starting point guard and run the offense this season. He flooded the stat sheet last season, averaging 5.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
Grant was a member of the same recruiting class that featured current NBA lottery picks Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, starting 16 games and averaging 5.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks per game. Both are expected to see an uptick in minutes and production this season. Big Ten Media Day coverage will take place on October 8th and 9th, starting at 12 PM live on the Big Ten Network.
Football had wide receivers Ian Strong and KJ Duff added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, joining DT Sheffield on the award watch list that honors the nation’s top pass-catcher (also includes other pass-catching players). The three receivers all rank inside the top eight in receiving yards for the Big Ten, with Duff and Strong sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Greg Schiano also met with the media on Tuesday during the bye week, with The Knight Report posting the transcript of the entire session. Some of the interesting takeaways were how Schiano is evaluating the shortcomings on offense and defense and determining whether the defense will once again strip the scheme down and rebuild it like they did last season.
Schiano also pushed back against the viewpoint that Rutgers has failed to beat any teams in the middle tier of the conference, with him saying that the program’s Big Ten wins have only come against those teams. He took accountability for the loss, saying that his first focus is on what he could have done better in teaching the coaching staff and players, and then evaluating his players’ on-field performance.
The Scarlet Knights will resume action when they make the cross-country trip to Seattle to battle the Washington Huskies. Kickoff is slated for 9 PM on FS1, with On The Banks providing its usual game-day coverage and game-week preview articles leading up to the contest. Andrew and I also wrote an article breaking down the various issues surrounding the program, potential solutions, and what the short and long-term consequences could be if the team does not turn things around quickly.
Finally, Rutgers Athletics announced the hiring of Britney O’Dell as Deputy Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator. She worked in West Virginia’s athletic department for the past ten years, where she built athletic partnerships with academics, counseling, and admissions units while delivering measurable results, including record team GPAs, consistent graduation success, and innovative wellness initiatives.
At Rutgers, she will oversee human resources, compliance, academics, sports health, and student-athlete development, in addition to serving as the sports administrator for the women’s basketball and volleyball teams. Her familiarity with Keli Zinn continues the strong trend of alignment we have seen throughout the university’s athletic leadership since President Tate was hired by the university. For more on O’Dell and her background, please check out Andrew’s article on her hiring.
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