No. 11 Marshall men's soccer drops No. 2 Pitt in 1 of 3 top-10 upsets

No. 11 Marshall put the college soccer world on notice with a 2-1 win over No. 2 Pittsburgh on Friday night. The Panthers arrived in Huntington with the best early season resume in the country with wins over then-No. 2 Georgetown and then-No. 6 West Virginia. 

Herd true freshman Matthew Bell notched both goals in the first half, capitalizing on a Panthers defense that struggled to deal with the forward’s movement. In the 14th minute, he slipped behind the backline down the left flank and finished off the inside of the post with a left-footed finish from a tight angle. He scored his second on a lofted pass over the top, timing his run perfectly to set up a one-on-one with the Pitt goalkeeper which he dispatched with ease.

FULL SCOREBOARD: Take a look at all the results across DI men's soccer

Despite Pitt pulling one back through a high turnover that led to Noel Valentin’s third goal of the season, the Herd withstood a frantic final stretch in front of a home crowd ready to roar. The referee’s whistle for full-time meant not only the highest-ranked win at home in program history, but a warning shot to the rest of the country that the 2020 national champions will be heard from this season.

We brought it tonight. 🔥#AllOrNothing x #WeAreMarshall pic.twitter.com/KXMhZoqqSb

— Marshall University Men's Soccer (@HerdMSoccer) September 3, 2022

No. 20 Denver wins at No. 9 Maryland ahead of another top 25 clash

The second top-10 upset of the night went down in College Park, where No. 20 Denver dropped No. 9 Maryland 2-0. The Pioneers were on top from the first whistle, resulting in a goal within six minutes. An in-swinging corner floated its way to the back post where Ronan Wynne was practically unmarked. He lost his marker with a smart run to beat Maryland’s zonal marking setup. 

Goal Clip: @WynneRonan netted the Friday night opener at Ludwig.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/QZLXOKB1LD

— Denver MSoccer (@DU_MSoccer) September 3, 2022

The Pioneers did not sit back after the opener, keeping the Terps under pressure for the majority of the first half. In the 15th minute, Denver’s Jake Mecham was chopped down in the area by Maryland’s Joe Suchecki. Midfielder Sam Bassett stepped up to double Denver’s lead from the penalty spot, sending goalkeeper Niklas Neumann the wrong way in the process. 

Denver will have little time to celebrate this top-10 win with a trip to No. 19 Georgetown on the docket for this Monday. For a quick preview of Pioneers-Hoyas, click or tap here.

Saint Louis gets back on track with win at No. 7 Creighton

Saint Louis began this season ranked in the top 10, but quickly tumbled out of the picture with consecutive losses to Louisville and Lipscomb. Friday night’s trip to No. 7 Creighton could have spelled a third straight defeat, but the Billikens returned to form with a chippy 3-2 win over the Bluejays.

Both of Saint Louis’ preseason Hermann Trophy nominees, John Klein and Alberto Suarez, made a direct impact on the match. Klein scored a go-ahead goal in the 31st minute and was integral in setting up Suarez’s goal to make it 3-1 shortly after halftime. Despite being outshot 21-8, the Saint Louis defense held strong to complete the team’s first road win over a top-10 opponent since 2014.