Bruins Brewin': Rutgers men's soccer faces uphill battle against UCLA
After earning a 3-1 statement win over then-No. 8 ranked Wisconsin on October 4, the Rutgers men's soccer team has suffered two straight defeats. The Scarlet Knights (4-7-2, 1-4-1) lost both games by a score of 2-1 and in tough fashion — they gave up a penalty with 30 seconds to go against Penn State and let Northwestern, which was winless in Big Ten play at the time, come from behind and steal all three points on the road.
On Friday, Rutgers will welcome UCLA to Yurcak Field on Busch campus in a crucial get-right game. The Bruins (5-3-4, 2-2-2) join the Big Ten after winning the Pac-12 title last season, the program's first since 2013.
To preview Friday's match, The Daily Targum sat down with Connor Dullinger, assistant sports editor of the Daily Bruin.
UCLA has settled nicely into the Big Ten. It is coming off a 2-1 upset over Ohio State, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time. The Bruins handed the Buckeyes (9-1-2, 4-1-1) their first defeat of the season and earned their first win over a top-two team since 2021.
"It's really been an up and down year for (UCLA)," Dullinger said. "Started the season super strong, reached as high as number six in the coaches poll but I think since (UCLA) played Northwestern on September 13 it's kinda been a lull, a lot of untimely goals."
This season, UCLA has a team full of new and returning players. Marquette transfer Edrey Caceres leads the team with 4 goals and 9 points, while Valencia, Spain, product Jose Contell follows closely behind with 7 points off 3 goals and one assist.
"Caceres has been great," Dullinger said. "He's great on set pieces, delivering corners as well as taking free kicks. His addition to the team has been great, you can definitely tell he's a leader."
The defense is rounded out by Davidson transfer Nicholas Cavallo, Drexel transfer Youri Senden and Pietro Grassi from Milan, Italy. Cavallo and Grassi have started every game this season, while Senden has started eight but has appeared in 11 matches.
"(The defense) has been fantastic," Dullinger said. "I think Pietro Grassi, our team captain and our senior is probably our best defender in the middle … Youri's been great, he was the defensive player of the year at Drexel before he came to UCLA. He's had a couple of iffy games but I think he's definitely solid in the back."
Cavallo started 56 of his 58 games with the Wildcats (4-4-4, 3-2-0), and Senden made 50 starts with the Dragons (7-4-0, 3-2-0), earning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and All-CAA First Team honors.
The goalkeeping situation is ongoing, with Sam Joseph and Wyatt Nelson both starting six games this season. Bruins head coach Ryan Jorden has rotated the two between the posts game-by-game.
"Joseph is a better goalie in terms of I think positioning, in terms of defensively making saves," Dullinger said. "Wyatt Nelson is a lot better on his feet, distributing the ball, things like that … As of late, I think what Jorden's been doing is basically playing the hot hand. He plays the goalie whoever's been playing better at the moment … I'm expecting Wyatt Nelson to play Friday against Rutgers considering he just won Big Ten goalie of the week."
The Knights hope to avoid what happened when they played UCLA last season in Los Angeles. Rutgers lost 4-0 in what was a second-half defensive collapse.
Friday's game will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"I don't really worry too much whether it's UCLA or Washington or whomever, they're all good," said head coach Jim McElderry. "What we have to think about is, it's a home game for us we now have. This was our third game in eight days so I think now being able to take a couple of moments and catch our breath a little bit and rest a little bit gives us a chance to play our best next Friday."
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