The No. 25 Michigan men’s soccer team travels to Piscataway to face Rutgers in an early-season Big Ten matchup.

The Scarlet Knights have had an inconsistent start to the season with a 3-5-1 record and an 0-2 start to Big Ten play and are coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Ohio State. However, they still have an exciting array of offenses that pose a credible threat to the Wolverines.

Michigan had its best start to a season since 2007, going undefeated in eight games and posting a record of 5-0-3. The key to their success is rock-solid defense, plus the combination of junior defender Bryce Blevins and graduate forward Beto Soto provides a deadly threat on the left side.

To learn more about Rutgers ahead of the match, The Michigan Daily spoke with Matthew Mangam, assistant sports editor and men’s soccer beat writer for The Daily Targum, Rutgers’ student newspaper. Here’s what he had to say about the game:

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity

Who can Michigan really expect to be Rutgers’ biggest scoring threat?

There are really three offensive players that come to mind: Curt Calov, Ola Maeland and Ian Abbey.

Curt Calov has scored four goals this season, the most on the team. He already surpassed his total from last year, which was three. All of his goals came in the first 10 minutes too, which is kind of crazy. However, he hasn’t scored a goal in a few games. Rutgers has been in a pretty rough patch, so he hasn’t really scored lately, but he was on a roll early in the season. And you know, he’s still a great player. He’s a Jersey guy. Went to Syracuse, was there when they won the national championship, then returned to Rutgers last year. It was a pretty tough season last year, but there were flashes. And I think he settled in better this year in his senior season.

Up front, Rutgers has Ola Maeland as a forward. He has three goals, he is in his fifth year. He lost 3-0 to Ohio State (the Scarlet Knights) on Sunday, but I think he did really well given the Buckeyes’ backline. He had a few good chances, but the Ohio State goalkeeper made some good saves. He’s quick and takes on defenders. And then there’s Ian Abbey. I think he has the most speed on the team. He is a winger. He runs backwards and plays the ball into Maeland.

How does Rutgers normally line up tactically?

Rutgers really likes to play from the back. You’ll pass out in the back. Their centre-backs play balls over the top and try to find the runs. And usually that’s often Ian Abbey or even Ola Maeland. These are the two players who score a lot of runs. That’s why they like to play from defense because they can also execute counterattacks. They were also very physical. You have a lot of yellow cards. They also have four games in a row with red cards, which is currently the most in the country, which is not good. But even if they like having the ball, they leave the ball when they need it. Depends on the minute, the time, how far ahead they are. They were up 2-0 against Princeton and parked the bus. They also had a red card in that game so it made sense. When they’re on top, they’ll play more defensively. It’s rare for Rutgers to score a second goal unless it’s early in the game. For example, in the season opener against Northeastern, they were up 2-0 and forced the third goal, and then they finally got it. When they take the lead in the second half, they definitely play more defensively.

Rutgers’ last game in Columbus didn’t go as planned. Can you tell me a little about what went wrong in this game and what the Knights plan to do to fix it?

In the first half, Rutgers was literally all over Ohio State. They really brought the game to them. It went well. And then Ohio State scored, just a good result. And I feel like if Rutgers goes under, they’re just going to falter. They looked dejected. And that was the story of the second half. After Ohio State scored the second goal, it was essentially over for the Knights. They were defeated and then there was the double. It’s difficult because I think the team defended well, like I saw against Princeton, but sometimes their defense is just questionable. In my opinion, the offense was definitely promising, but the goal alone somehow took the team’s momentum away.

What do you think are some of the areas where Rutgers competes well against Michigan? And what do you think are areas where the Knights don’t necessarily fit together?

I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint anything, but like I said, I really like Rutgers’ offense. I really rate them. They are all very experienced and really have time to do good. Ola Maeland and Ian Abbey were on the 2022 Big Ten Championship squad. Abbey was only a freshman, but he made an impact. I think Michigan’s defense is good, but I think Rutgers is good at creating opportunities, especially when at home. On defense, Rutgers’ defensive line was very young last year, three freshmen and a junior – now it’s three sophomores and a senior. So the players have kind of grown and gotten better. I think Rutgers’ defense is better than last year, but it’s still not quite at the level it should be. Rutgers goalie Ciaran Dalton – great goalie. I think his stats don’t look that good because the defense is leaving some plays behind. I think the (Knights) goaltending is very good, but I think the defense is showing signs of it, but it’s very inconsistent.

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