Overreaction Reaction: Opening Day

by J.R. Eskilson

August 20, 2021

With the kick off of a new season, this is a new feature on TopDrawerSoccer that will appear somewhat infrequently. As we wait for the start of the club season, I took some time to check in on a number of games (thanks to ESPN+ and other streaming services) from the opening day of the Division I college soccer season.

These are some quick thoughts from a handful of games:

Boston College 5-0 Iona

Boston College looked great in the opening clash. The Eagles moved the ball well and showed plenty of quality in the comfortable win over Iona. Linda Boama scored twice for the Eagles, as she took the early lead for the Golden Boot. Sam Smith had a goal and an assist. Outside of the scoreline, the Eagles looked prepared for the game and took care of work early. Head coach Jason Lowe’s side played beautiful soccer at times in the game. I enjoyed the way they moved the ball and did not waste any touches. They’ll face some more daunting opposition soon, but the initial return has me eager to watch them again.

California 3-0 UC San Diego

It was a historic game for UC San Diego on Thursday. This was the first game for the Tritons as a Division I program. The Tritons showed enough to look like they will be competitive in the Big West - keep in mind that this program has not played a competitive game since 2019. The 3-5-2 formation was a bit of fresh air in a land that tends to favor 4-3-3. California waited a bit to get the opening goal, but after that the result did not seem to be in doubt. Emily Smith was very good on Thursday - she was not challenged all that much, but she did show well defensively in duels. Her passing has always been among the best in the country. Ayo Oke looks like she is going to be a star.

A slaloming run from Ayo Oke, a tap-in for @MiaFontana3 and the Bears go up 2-0!

🖥️ ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/E1GjtL2NFM
— Cal Women's Soccer (@CalWSoc) August 19, 2021

UCF 4-0 Texas

UCF dominated this game. The score was indicative in the gap between the two teams. UCF played a great game.They had a plan and executed it well - watch the passes to break the line on the first and third goals, they clearly identified a weakness in this Texas team that they wanted to exploit. Kristen Scott finished the game with a pair of goals. Darya Rajaee had a goal and an assist in the first half. This is a good UCF side. I’m in on Tiffany Sahaydak’s squad. Texas, on the other hand, has a long way to go. There were some simple breakdowns defensively that made life pretty easy on UCF. There were some issues in how they defended collectively from the start, which is going to be leave the coaching staff with a long video review session from this game. The positive news is that you want to be playing your best soccer in November, not August.

Darya with the pass 🎯

Kristen with the goal 🙌#ChargeOn ⚔️ #BestIsOurStandard pic.twitter.com/lZXi2Iwa1u
— UCF Women's Soccer (@UCF_WSoccer) August 19, 2021

UCLA 3-1 UC Irvine

I only caught part of the first half of this game. UCLA looked good. There were some questions about the Bruins after losing some key pieces from last year’s squad. Those concerns do not seem like a big deal after Thursday. Freshman Lilly Reale looked like a seasoned veteran at center back. Mia Fishel, who announced prior to the game that she will be joining the professional game after this season, had a dominant performance with five shots, three on goal, one goal. The Bruins used 26 players in the opener. I expect the rotation to shrink in the coming weeks, but the depth on the squad is impressive. Back-up keeper Hannah Mitchell made a great save in the second half.