NCAA Tournament Starting XI: Women’s Soccer vs. UConn

THE DETAILS

NCAA Tournament First Round
Sat., Nov. 16
5 p.m. ET at Yurcak Field
(6) Rutgers (11-4-5)
vs. UConn (13-4-4)
TV: ESPN+

THE BIG DANCE

RU continues a longstanding tradition of NCAA Championships soccer, making the bracket for the 13th year in a row, 15th time in the last 17 years, and 19th time overall. The Scarlet Knights have been ranked or receiving votes for 17 straight seasons. The team enters the NCAA Tournament at No. 32 in the latest RPI. Rutgers will look to make at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in its 19th appearance in the championship bracket.

The Scarlet Knights are 15-13-9 overall in the NCAA Tournament.

The appearance is the 32nd NCAA Tournament for the Huskies, ranking fifth most all-time. It is the first NCAA Tournament for UConn since 2016. UConn earned the automatic bid to the NCAA’s with a 2-1 thriller in double overtime against Xavier in the BIG EAST Final on Sunday. 

The winner of Saturday’s game will move on to the second round against the winner of three-seed Stanford and UC Santa Barbara. The highest remaining seed will host the second and third rounds. Two-seed Arkansas vs. Oklahoma St. and seven-seed Pepperdine vs. California fills out Rutgers’ section of the bracket.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES

Fifth-seeded UConn won its Big East Tournament Championship since 2004 by defeating four-seed Creighton, 1-0, in the quarterfinals, top-seeded and No. 20 ranked Georgetown, 2-0, in the semifinals, then beat second-seeded Xavier, 2-1, in double-overtime to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

The Huskies outscored opponents 40-19 in 2024, led by Chioma Okafor‘s 12 goals, which rank 22nd in the NCAA and tops in the Big East. Kaitlyn Mahoney leads the goalkeeping unit with eight shutouts, a 0.90 goals-against average, and a 0.767 save percentage. Chioma Okafor earned First Team All-Big East accolades for the second-straight season. Lucy Cappadona and sophomore Anaya Johnson earned second team status while senior Abbey Jones was named to the third team. 

The Scarlet Knights are 7-16-4 all-time against UConn since 1984 while sharing the Big East Conference for more than two decades. The sides have met twice in the NCAA Tournament – a 1-0 win for UConn in the first round in 1984 and a 3-0 win for Rutgers in the third…