The men joined the party this past weekend, and we’re here to give you a refresher on some of the important moments. Here are a few of the opening shots fired in men’s soccer.  

Feeling at home: Defending national champion Akron knows how to make an entrance. With their season-opening 5-0 drubbing of Cleveland State on Saturday, the Zips set a new NCAA record by extending their unbeaten streak at home to 40 matches. Akron, now 38-0-2 at home during their run, surpassed Tulsa’s previous mark of 39 straight home matches without a loss – accomplished from 1988-1992. Akron’s mark dates back to the start of the 2008 season.

Marquee matchups: Louisville made an early statement by taking down No. 6 UCLA in a 2-0 victory on Saturday. The No. 4 Cardinals should be plenty motivated this season after falling just short in last season’s national championship. They certainly looked that way in shutting out the Bruins led by goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux. UCLA had an own goal before Colin Rolfe added a second score in the final half to seal the big win.

In another showdown between big-time ranked opponents, William & Mary topped No. 8 SMU 3-2. Nicolas Abrigo netted a pair of scores to lead the way for the Tribe.

Beat down of the week: Valparaiso 8, Calumet St. Joseph 0; a moment of silence for the Bulldogs, please. Eight different Valparaiso players scored to set a new school record for the Crusaders who had previously tallied seven goals – most recently in 1995. Valparaiso goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck needed just one save to keep a clean sheet.  

Cardiac kids: If there’s one program you should catch live this season, it just might be Army. In their first two games the Black Knights have managed to produce two of the wilder finishes in the country thus far. Army dropped a 6-4 shootout (not literally) to Marist on Friday in a match that saw them surrender four unanswered goals in the first half only to respond with three straight in the second half to tie the score 4-4. Marist countered with two more in the final minutes – and got a hat trick from Stephan Brossard – to pull out the match.

Army then played an overtime thriller against Manhattan on Monday that saw Josh Koeppe net a score in the 99th minute to give the Black Knights a 1-0 overtime win. Let’s hope Army has some energy left for their third match of the season Friday.

Let’s finish strong, coach: George Washington will open its season on Friday against American and before they do we wanted to send a shout out to coach George Lidster who has announced this will be his final season. Entering his 24th year at the helm, Lidster arrived at the program in 1987 and is George Washington’s all-time leader in wins with 191. Well played, Lidster. Best of luck in your final season.

Men’s Top 20 Action

1. North Carolina def. UNC Wilmington 3-1
2. Maryland def. St. John’s 3-0; def. West Virginia 3-1
3. Akron def. Cleveland State 5-0
4. Louisville def. UCLA 2-0
5. Connecticut def. St. Francis (NY) 2-0
6. UC Santa Barbara def. Seattle 3-1
7. UCLA lost to Louisville 2-0
8. SMU lost to William & Mary 3-2
9. Notre Dame tied Indiana 0-0
10. California def. San Francisco 1-0
11. Boston College def. George Mason 3-2; def. Fairfield 2-1
12. Indiana tied Notre Dame 0-0
13. Creighton def. Denver 1-0
14. UC Irvine def. San Diego 1-0; def. Nebraska-Omaha 4-0
15. William & Mary def. SMU 3-2
16. Virginia lost to West Virginia 1-0; def. Richmond 7-1
17. Duke lost to UNC Greensboro 3-2; def. Furman 1-0
18. Brown was idle
19. South Florida def. Wake Forest 2-0
20. Michigan lost to Bowling Green 2-0