PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Gia Vicari came to the Rutgers women’s soccer team this offseason, very much fitting a need for a team that very much needed a goal scorer. But most importantly, head coach Mike O’Neill believes that his program found a fit for the culture in and around this program.
Another person, O’Neill believes, who can ‘sweep the shed’ and get the Scarlet Knights back for another NCAA Tournament run.
Vicari, a graduate transfer from Georgetown, is coming off three-straight All-Big East First Team selections. Last season in 22 games (all starts), she had six goals and four assists.
Rutgers struggled last season to replace the production of Frankie Tagliaferri. In 2021, Tagliaferri scored 13 goals and had nine assists for Rutgers as they played their way to the final four of the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, Rutgers women’s soccer lost four straight games including their first round match-up in the NCAA Tournament. It was a disappointing close out to the season given the expectations around the team.
O’Neill believes that Vicari can help his deep team with her scoring ability and her movement off the ball.
“So I’ve been fortunate to watch Gia for a few years now. At the club level and we played against Georgetown, so I was able to, you know, be part of those games, the scouts. I know coach Nolan (Georgetown head coach Dave Nolan) very well. I talk to him a couple of times a week,” O’Neill told Rutgers Wire last week.
“But I’ve had that opportunity to watch her play. You get a chance to see what a special player she is. So when she became available – like last year, we had I think five from the transfer portal. So we kind of learned from what was good, and maybe some things that we would have liked to have changed. Because we’re still learning about the portal and when she became available and we know that she’s a good person and a good player who scores goals. Then you’re gonna get a closer look, no doubt about it.”
When Vicari, from Reading, PA, entered the transfer portal, O’Neill and his staff were immediately intrigued. But he felt the group had to do some homework first on the prospective player.
“But we had to make sure because we still had the 11 freshmen coming in so we wanted to make sure that when we went to the transfer portal, we wanted it to be a special player. And you know, the opportunity to have ‘G’ being part of our program was important to us,” O’Neill said.
“We watched on film, so we watched the movements. We watched how she was able she was very composed and clinical in front of the goal. But her movements without the ball are really good, super competitive. She has a history of winning which was important to us. That element is sometimes hard to teach.”
The final piece for O’Neill and his staff was to bring in Vicari for a visit. While O’Neill had heard good things about the forward from her former head coach at Georgetown, he wanted to see firsthand how she could fit into the program and the culture at Rutgers.
“So the last piece of the puzzle for us was getting to know the person. So when we brought her on campus, we had the opportunity to spend time with her and her family, and they fit right in…fit right in,” O’Neill said.
“So we talked so much about character and, and talent and we’re never going to sacrifice character for talent. It was important to us to get a chance to know Gia, her family – we heard all great things about her from coach Nolan, but you want to be able to experience that yourself.”
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