The men’s Division I soccer season kicked off last night. The two narratives of the day were upsets and blowouts. Pittsburgh(m) and North Carolina(m), two teams from the 2020 College Cup, opened up the season with lopsided results. 

Pittsburgh cruised to a 7-0 win over Duquesne. It was the most goals Pitt scored in a goal since 2017. Veljko Petkovic had two goals and two assists in the victory. Despite the seven in heaven, Pitt head coach Jay Vidovich was not singing the praises of his side after the game. 

“I did not like the whole first half at all,” Vidovich told thePittNews after the game. “Besides the goals … the rest was sloppy, very individual and a lot of breakdowns and was just not what we expect from Pitt soccer.”

North Carolina also rolled in the opening game. The Tar Heels blanked Bucknell 7-0 on Thursday. It was the most goals in a game from North Carolina since 2016. Chris Sullivan scored twice for the Tar Heels. 

Not to be outdone, defending champion Marshall destroyed the net of the goal with six goals in the opener. The Herd claimed a 6-1 victory over James Madison. “Our guys on the attacking front were very, very deadly,” Marshall head coach Chris Grassie said after the game, which was the most goals in a game for Marshall since 2019. 

Elsewhere, UC Santa Barbara and Akron both won their opening games by the same score, 7-1. 

The other story of the night were upsets of some of the preseason favorites. No. 22 SMU beat No. 7 Stanford 3-1 behind two goals from Gabriel Costa (including one goal that could be an early favorite for Goal of the Year). 

How could you NOT be impressed by @gabrielpfc1996 🔥🔥#PonyUp | #SCTop10 | @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/KOeWOyXPY5

— SMU Men's Soccer (@SMUSoccerM) August 27, 2021

"I saw [the Stanford goalie] was coming out of the goal, and I didn't even think – I just shot it," Costa told smumustangs.com after the game. 

Florida International (FIU) crushed UCF 4-0, the Panthers first win in Orlando since 2015. "Nothing was given. Credit to the whole team. This is a tough place to come up and play,” FIU head coach Kyle Russell said after the game. “Anyone who has played UCF knows they are a good team. I'm very proud of our guys tonight and I'm excited for our next game as we gear up for FGCU."

The biggest upset of the night was in North Carolina. VCU took down No. 6 Wake Forest on the road 0-2. “As I told the guys all week, no championships are won opening weekend, but we need to learn the lessons that the game showed us tonight and keep improving as we take this long journey towards our goals in November and December," Dave Giffard said after the game. 

Giffard’s comment is the common refrain. You want to play your best soccer in November and December, not in August. But the college schedule is so unique with the jam packed action that it seems like the opening game would hold significance as a predictor for a team’s success. So I gave a cursory look at previous winners’ results from the opening game. Is there any historical significance to the opening game for the team that went on to win the NCAA Division I National Championship? 

Over the last decade, the eventual champion is 5-2-3 on the opening day of the season. Maryland (2018) and Stanford (2015) are the only two programs to drop the opening game and go on to win the title. 

2020 Marshall - Draw (vs Ohio Valley)

2019 Georgetown - Win (vs Syracuse)

2018 Maryland - Loss (at Washington) 

2017 Stanford - Win (at San Jose St)

2016 Stanford - Draw (vs Penn St)

2015 Stanford - Loss (at UC Santa Barbara)

2014 Virginia - Win (vs Old Dominion)

2013 Notre Dame - Draw (vs UCLA)

2012 Indiana - Win (at St. Louis)

2011 North Carolina - Win (vs. UNC Wilmington)

The men’s game was not the only one in action last night. There was a big upset in the women’s game too. Defending champion Santa Clara was held to a 2-2 draw against Seattle. The Broncos dropped to 1-0-2 on the season. 

“We played poorly today. We played poorly for nearly the whole match” Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said after the game. “We weren’t sharp in any facets of our game today, and we took a couple of injuries. Just not a very good day for us.”

Santa Clara hopes to bounce back on Sunday against Cal State Fullerton.

picture: @vcuMensSoccer