Rutgers men's soccer goes for Big Ten title as history beckons
Joey Zalinsky was eating dinner at the Fat Cactus Cantina in New Brunswick with Rutgers men’s soccer teammate Nico Rosamilia late Wednesday when a couple of strangers approached their table.
“They congratulated us on our win over Ohio State,” Zalinsky said. “It’s an amazing feeling, especially coming from someone you don’t know. I appreciate everyone having our back.”
The Scarlet Knights’ 2-1 victory over the 16th-ranked Buckeyes advanced them to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament final, the latest step in the program’s season-long renaissance. Folks around campus and throughout this soccer-rich state are taking notice – the team received a standing ovation during an on-court cameo at Thursday’s men’s basketball game, and a huge crowd is expected for the title match against perennial power Indiana. Kickoff is noon at Yurcak Field in Piscataway.
“It’s been a big deal,” said Zalinsky, a Brick Memorial High School grad and one of several Jersey boys in the lineup. “It’s been a while.”
A full-circle moment?
Rutgers’ last championship in men’s soccer was a Big East regular season co-title in 1999, and the last tournament crown came in 1997, also in the Big East. Go back a bit further and the record books are replete with accolades. In 29 seasons under former skipper Bob Reasso, Rutgers men’s soccer appeared in 13 NCAA Tournaments, advanced to the College Cup three times, captured six conference titles and produced 19 All-Americans.
No Scarlet Knights squad came closer to winning a modern NCAA title than men’s soccer in 1990; they fell to Virginia in the national title game on a penalty-kick shootout. It’s easy to forget, but this program probably has achieved more historical success than any other Rutgers team aside from women’s basketball.
“The history, everybody knows about it,” Zalinsky said. “Coach talks about it a lot.”
That coach, Jim McElderry, hails from Ramsey in Bergen County and grew up during Rutgers’ halcyon era. When the program’s new locker room opened in the Rodkin Center, he made sure the triumphs of autumns past were displayed on banners and posters (including one of Rutgers legend Alexi Lalas).
“I kind of pushed for that, so our players could understand the great history we have here, but also to push our responsibility to try to write some of our own history,” McElderry said. “This year we’ve accomplished some of our own goals with that, especially in the Big Ten Conference…but we still have so much to play for.”
Like an NCAA Tournament berth. Rutgers (9-4-6 overall, 4-2-2 Big Ten) should make the field for the first time since 2015, even with a loss Sunday, but the baseball team's snub last spring after a run to the Big Ten final is a reminder that nothing substitutes for punching the automatic ticket.
Standing in the way is Indiana. Cue the jokes about how Rutgers has pushed that school around in men’s hoops and football, but on the pitch the Hoosiers are still an alpha dog, having appeared in the NCAA Tournament final as recently as the spring of 2021. They’re the fourth seed here and Rutgers is second, but they tied 2-2 in Piscataway last month. This feels like a toss-up.
“Playing Indiana, there’s nobody in our locker room or our offices here that is going have any trouble understanding how good they are or how much winning they’ve done,” McElderry said.
More than a match
One way or another, Sunday’s meeting is more of an event than a game. McElderry called it “an occasion.” He’s right. Soccer is in Jersey’s bloodstream.
“We want to win of course, that’s the main goal all of the time, but we also want to play a brand of soccer people like coming to see,” the coach said. “It’s an educated soccer community here in New Jersey.”
Rutgers led the Big Ten in goals with 39. Indiana ranks second with 35. You might see some fireworks Sunday. What you will definitely see is Jersey guys impacting the action, from Zalinsky, Thomas DeVizio (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) and Chris Tiao (Randolph) on defense to Matthew Acosta (North Hunterdon), Nestor Cabrera (Bridgewater-Raritan) and Jason Bouregy (Don Bosco Prep) in the midfield to MD Meyers (Delran) on the attack.
“We’ve got a lot of New Jersey players in key roles,” McElderry said. “It was a big part of recruiting when we got here.”
Their families will be at Yurcak Sunday. So will a ton of other people.
“It’s kind of cool, how everyone has tuned into this,” Zalinsky said. “Having that kind of support I think gives us a great chance to bring home the Big Ten title.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers men's soccer goes for Big Ten title vs. Indiana
