KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Rutgers women’s soccer kicks off its 2026 season Thursday night with a tough road test at No. 24 Tennessee, the first stop in a three-game opening stretch away from New Jersey.
The Scarlet Knights and Volunteers are set for a 7 p.m. ET start at Regal Soccer Stadium, with the match available on SECN+. Rutgers will not play at home until Aug. 27, when Boston College comes to town for the opener in New Jersey.
Mike O’Neill’s group arrives with a revamped look but plenty of continuity. The roster checks in at 31 players, including 22 returners and nine newcomers.
Seven of those newcomers are freshmen, while two arrived via the transfer portal. O’Neill is beginning his 13th season leading the program, and his track record remains one of the program’s biggest selling points: Rutgers has reached the NCAA Tournament in 11 of his 12 seasons.
The coaching staff is largely unchanged as well. Lubos Ancin is back as associate head coach, Ryan Nigro returns as assistant coach, and Kevin Esteves has moved up from video analyst to assistant coach.
Madison Richard, an assistant coach, will be on maternity leave for the season. Trish DiPaolo remains director of operations, and Mariana Martinez has joined as the new video analyst.
Rutgers is trying to rebound from a 2025 season that finished at 4-7-5 overall and 2-7-2 in Big Ten play. The program is looking to get back to the level it reached for most of O’Neill’s tenure, when NCAA Tournament trips became the norm.
One of the biggest reasons for optimism is what Rutgers brings back on the back line. All four returning starters logged at least 14 starts last season, giving the Knights a veteran defensive base. Patricia Tsokos was one of just two players to start all 16 matches, handling left back from start to finish.
The rest of that group is built on players who were thrown into major roles early. Lindsey Hailey started 15 times as a freshman at center back, and Julia Joseph started 14 games at right back. Morgan Hippeli, who started 15 contests last year mostly in midfield, shifted to center back in the season finale and is expected to stay there.
In goal, Rutgers has one of the most seasoned keepers around in Olivia Bodmer. She enters her fifth year with 56 games under her belt and reached a major milestone last season when she recorded her 200th career save at Northwestern.
That made her just the ninth player in program history to hit that number. Her 210 career saves rank ninth in school history, just behind Casey Murphy’s 216.
The freshman class brings a different kind of energy. Rutgers added seven first-years across all three levels, and several arrive with serious credentials.
Lilia Calvert was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Pennsylvania and can slot in across the midfield. Marian Dunne and Amanda Thornton both come in as strikers with proven scoring instincts.
Tommi Rose Valente, a midfielder and winger from Kearny, N.J., has already made a strong impression in preseason.
Bea Tinoco and Dina Bojkovic add more punch up top as accomplished forwards from New Jersey, while Gesare Omwenga is the class’s lone defender. A North Carolina native, Omwenga brings extensive club experience with NC Courage.
Rutgers also added two transfers to the mix. Goalkeeper Iris de Rouw arrived after her first year at St.
John’s and gives the position more depth behind Bodmer. Midfielder Lily Ann Phillips joined after spending her freshman season at Penn State, and the staff expects her to contribute right away.
O’Neill announced Bodmer, midfielder Gabriela Gil Allie Post as the team’s captains, with Bodmer serving as a captain for the third time.
In Other News...
Rutgers Just Got A National Boost Where Big Ten Games Are Won
Rutgers picked up a notable preseason nod on the offensive side, with guard Kwabena Asamoah landing on the Pro Football Network Preseason All-America first team and running back Antwan Raymond earning second-team recognition. For a program trying to make its mark in the Big Ten, that kind of attention matters because it points straight at the two spots that often decide whether an offense can hold up when the schedule gets rough.
Asamoah started all 12 games at right guard last season and was a steady part of the line that helped Rutgers post strong offensive numbers, while Raymond gave the Scarlet Knights a true finishing punch. He ran for 1,241 yards and 15 touchdowns, production that placed him among the Big Ten leaders and near the top of the programs record book, giving Rutgers a proven one-two foundation heading into another important year. [Read more 🡒]