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Rutgers team Athletics: Oct. 6-13

Kyle Fisher
·5 min read

Rutgers athletics might have had the last three days off, but make no mistake about it: their past week was jam-packed. Fans of the Scarlet Knights are aware of the struggles Rutgers has gone through in football, losing three straight to ranked Big Ten opponents.

As usual, the rest of the Olympic/team sports continue to make waves in their respective sports. The fall season is certainly being paced by women’s soccer and field hockey, both of which are top 10 respectively in the national polls and are dominating in Big Ten play.

Men’s soccer as well as women’s volleyball are also having very solid seasons.

Let’s look back at the week that was in Rutgers athletics.

Women's Soccer

Rutgers women’s soccer club is the best team in the Big Ten (6-0 in conference) and they are ranked No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Scarlet Knights had two games this past week: Thursday, Oct. 06 against now No. 22 Michigan and Sunday, Oct. 10 against Iowa.

Rutgers and Michigan went into their matchup as the only two remaining undefeated squads in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights took down the Wolverines 4-1. Freshman Riley Tierney was the star of the show in this one, scoring one goal and adding two assists. They were also able to shutout Iowa 1-0 in a rainy game on Sunday. Sophomore Becci Fluchel scored the lone goal of the game to move Rutgers to an 11-2 overall record.

Men's Soccer

The Scarlet Knights men on the pitch only had one contest in the past week, dropping a double-overtime thriller to Michigan State. Sophomore Cole Sotack scored his first collegiate goal in the 52nd minute to tie the game, the ninth different Rutgers player to score a goal this season.

This loss did drop them out of the top 25, but the men’s program has started strong this season, They now sit at 7-3-2 overall this season.

Field Hockey

Rutgers field hockey continued to show they are a powerhouse in the national landscape this season. Their contest on October 8 against (at the time) No. 4 Penn State proved just that as the Scarlet Knights downed the Nittany Lions 1-0. Rutgers is now ranked No. 3 in both the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll and the NCAA Field Hockey RPI. Junior Rachel Houston scored the lone goal, and Senior Gianna Glatz made a season high eight saves. She received Big Ten honors for her performance as well.

Volleyball

The volleyball team had a rough stretch this past week, dropping both of their contests to Big Ten opponents. On Friday they lost a home contest against Indiana three sets to 1. Although it may seem lopsided, they scratched their way to a 25-23 victory in the second set, and only dropped the fourth set by that score, but in Indiana’s favor.

Sunday was a different story. Rutgers took on now No. 9 Nebraska and lost in straight sets. This was their fourth matchup against a Big Ten opponent that is ranked in the top 25.

Women's Swimming and Diving

The women’s swimming and diving team made some news this past week, as well. The Scarlet Knights of the pool opened their season by making history in their meet at West Point against Army.

The 400 medley relay team of Alice Scarabelli, Tina Celik, Beatriz Zoppeidossantos, and Liza Ryndych reset the Army Pool record that was set by the 1976 US Olympic Team. The quartet collected a time of 3:47.05 topping the previous record by 2.94 seconds. Not to be outdone, graduate student Abigail Knapton also broke the Crandall Pool record on 3M by 10.95 points taking first with a score of 333.45 and topped the previous 1M record scoring.

They also added a second-place finish in the Colgate Invitational over the weekend.

Football

Oct 9, 2021; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights tight end Jovani Haskins (5) braces for a tackle by Michigan State Spartans cornerback Chester Kimbrough (12) during the second half at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Scarlet Knights had a rough stretch on the gridiron recently, culminating in their third straight matchup against a Big Ten team in the top 15. There were some bright spots in the game and, despite losing for the third week in a row, there is a reason for optimism. They sit at 3-3 on the season.

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