Rutgers women's soccer looks to bounce back against Providence, UMass
The Rutgers women's soccer team has a busy week ahead, with a home game against Providence on Thursday and UMass on Sunday. By Friday, the Scarlet Knights (2-2-2, 0-0-0) will have played three games in just eight days.
Rutgers will be looking to bounce back from its 2-0 loss to Georgetown, who is ranked 14th in the nation, from yesterday. The Knights' offense struggled in their loss to the Hoyas (4-0-1, 0-0-0), only taking eight shots in the game.
Aside from a dominating 7-0 win against Fairleigh Dickinson, Rutgers' start to the new season has not been ideal thus far. The Knights have won just 2 of their 6 games and have been shut out in 3. In contrast, in the 2022 season, Rutgers started the season by winning its first nine games and scoring 29 goals for an average of approximately 3 goals per game in that span.
This week's games mark the final out-of-conference opponents of the regular season for the Knights. These matches will be an important tune-up before Rutgers takes on Big Ten opponents.
The Friars (5-0-0, 0-0-0) are first on the slate for the Knights. Providence has started its season undefeated and has not given up a single goal through its first five matches. This will prove to be a tough test for Rutgers as goals have been hard to come by so far this season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer has looked sharp thus far for the Knights. She has started in all six games, recording a save percentage of 82.6 percent. The Friars have split the goalkeeping duties evenly between Katherine McElroy and Emma Bodmer.
Olivia Bodmer is the younger sister of Emma Bodmer, adding an additional layer of competition to this game. With the potential sisterly matchup in goal, Rutgers will hope for Olivia Bodmer to get the best of her older sister in the match.
The last matchup of the week for the Knights will be against the Minutemen (3-1-2, 0-0-0). UMass started its season slow, with just 1 win in its first 4 games, but has now picked things up and currently holds a two-game winning streak.
Ashley Lamond has been vital this season for the Minutemen. She currently leads the team in goals and points and is tied for the team lead in assists.
Rutgers will look to Olivia Bodmer and some of its key defenders, such as graduate student defender Allison Lynch and junior defender Emily Mason, in hopes of shutting down Lamond and the UMass attack.
The matchup against Providence will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, and the matchup against the Minutemen will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be held at Yurcak Field on Busch campus and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
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