The UConn women’s soccer team will play its first NCAA tournament game since 2016 when they kick off against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 16. After three straight quality wins culminating in a victory in the Big East Championship, Connecticut was given the No. 11 seed in the bottom right quadrant of the bracket.
The six-seeded Scarlet Knights own a record of 11-4-5 and made it all the way to the Big Ten Championship before falling to mighty UCLA. Rutgers faced a gauntlet of teams in the Big Ten tournament, starting with defeating No. 16 ranked Michigan State in overtime. They then needed penalty kicks to overcome No. 4 USC as goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer did not concede a goal during penalty kicks.
Key regular season wins for the Scarlet Knights include victories over Washington and Wisconsin. Rutgers also played to a draw versus Michigan State when the Spartans were the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Both Rutgers and UConn had their fair share of players earn all-conference recognition for their efforts this season. The Scarlet Knights had three all-conference award recipients. Senior defender Emily Mason earned a first team nod, forward Riley Tiernan was named to the Second Team and Shaela Bradley was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
For the Huskies, Chioma Okafor was named to the All-Big East First Team after a stellar junior campaign. Anaya Johnson managed to earn All-Big East Second Team recognition despite missing a month of the season to play for Team Canada in the U-20 World Cup. Captains Lucy Cappadona and Abbey Jones rounded out the honorees, with Cappadona taking home Second Team honors and Jones being named to the Third Team.
Although they have not faced each other since 2018, Rutgers and Connecticut have a storied history dating back to the original Big East days. After losing the inaugural matchup in 1987, the Huskies rattled off 14 wins and four draws against the Scarlet Knights over the next 20 years. But the tides turned once UConn departed for the American Athletic Conference. Rutgers won the last five matchups and has not conceded a single goal in any of those five fixtures. The Huskies have scored a goal in all but one of their games this season, so the very potent UConn offense should be able to get one past the Rutgers defense.
The program has a storied history in the NCAA tournament, but is still seeking its first championship. They finished as the runner-up four times, losing to powerhouse North Carolina each time in the championship game. This year marks the 32nd trip to the NCAA tournament for the Huskies and the first for head coach Margaret Rodriguez. As a player for Connecticut, Rodriguez took part in four NCAA tournaments from 1995-1998 and earned All-Big East Second Team honors in 1998.
This will be the 19th time that Rutgers will take part in the tournament. The Scarlet Knights reached the Final Four in 2015 and 2021.
Rutgers will host the round of 64 game at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, New Jersey. The game is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. and fans can tune in to ESPN+ to catch the Huskies in tournament action.