It's not every weekend that a new professional sports league gets launched in North America. After countless hours of hard work behind the scenes over the last several months, the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season kicked off with St Louis CITY2 defeating the league's sole independent club, Rochester New York FC.
MLS NEXT Pro rolled out the red carpet for this event as some of the biggest names in soccer, like MLS Commissioner Don Garber and ESPN's and St. Louis' own Taylor Twellman, attended the spectacle at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, with the latter taking part in the broadcast.
The City of St. Louis Delivered
From the moment that St. Louis learned that they would be getting one of the next MLS franchises, there was an exciting build-up leading up to Friday's opening game. It culminated with a sold-out crowd watching their beloved squad get a victory over the opposition on the field. Still, that win was not just for their team but also soccer aficionados across the country.
The First Ever MLS NEXT Pro Goal
Wan Kuzain made history in the 20th minute of the match as he scored the first goal in the league's history. The St Louis CITY2 player found himself at the right place at the right time following a free kick near the left corner that RNY FC's Caique saved. The CITY2 player would not forgive and drilled a shot inside the box to make history before the 6000+ fans on their way to the 2-0 victory.
"It feels amazing to come back home to a place where people have watched me since I was ten years old; it means the world to me... It's like a full-circle moment, and I want to enjoy it with my friends and family", the goal scorer Kuzain said.
RNY FC Lives to Fight Another Day
The silver lining for RNY FC is that they were also part of history and will get a chance to redeem themselves next Sunday. With a supportive ownership group that includes Jamie Vardy, there is no telling how formidable the team from Upstate New York will become.
Not Your Typical Saturday
Saturday saw eight more teams make their MLS NEXT Pro debut, with all the home teams, Orlando City B, Inter Miami II, Houston Dynamo 2, and North Texas SC, taking victories. As we have mentioned time after time, MLS NEXT Pro is meant to create visibility for up-and-coming players, and several players made sure to take advantage of the spotlight.
Brace Yourselves
Three players netted two goals that day, beginning with Orlando City B's Jack Lynn. Not to be outdone, Emerson Rodriguez also scored a pair of goals for Inter Miami II in their 2-0 victory over Columbus Crew 2. Finally, Tarik Scott closed out the night with a brace of his own to help North Texas SC defeat Minnesota United FC 2 in a scrappy Saturday night duel in Texas.
Palomino Steals the Spotlight
The spotlight shined the brightest on Marcelo Palomino whose free-kick bender from outside the box made waves on Twitter as he helped seal a 1-0 victory for Dynamo Dos over WFC2. Palomino's goal was worthy of a SportsCenter Top 10, but even more so, it highlighted what was expected from an inaugural weekend. I can keep talking about it, but if you missed it, take a look below, and you be the judge.
Sunday Fun Day!
The day opened up with two teams, Philadelphia Union II and Tacoma Defiance getting victories, with the latter getting the best result of the inaugural weekend. Goals by South American duo, Jesus Bueno and Carlos Paternina Molina, led the way in the Union II's victory over FCC2. Despite giving up the fastest goal of the weekend, Tyrone Marshall's squad was competitive. FC Cincinnati 2 will get an opportunity to regroup when they face TFC II this upcoming week.
Something to consider from this weekend is what can happen when you place a much more experienced team versus younger opponents. Defiance fielded a starting 11 who had a combined 118 games of MLS experience. The 4-0 win that Tacoma Defiance earned versus Real Monarchs leaves us wondering how rosters will play a role this inaugural season.
The Shootouts are Coming
It was inevitable and only a matter of time before one of the league's games ended in a shootout. One of the things that makes MLS NEXT Pro unique is that, as far as I know, they are the only professional soccer league in the world that has no draws as a final outcome. Most people can argue that shootouts with the game on the line will put the players in higher stress situations that cannot be replicated in regulation time, let alone practice.
How about a fourth brace to kick off this inaugural weekend?
We cannot fail to mention that Revs II player Damian Rivera had a brace of his own in the match versus NYCFC II. The midfielder became the fourth this past weekend to score two goals in one game.
Getting it Done
New England Revolution II became the first team to earn a shootout victory, 4-3, after beating NYCFC II 4-3 following their 2-2 draw. Interestingly, the match saw a penalty kick take place in regulation time, and Chris Gloster, the executor, also scored via a penalty in the shootout. How different was the pressure between the two? That's something we'll have to ask Chris about. Despite having scored 3 consecutive goals in the shootout, NYC II could not maintain the lead and fell apart after missing the last goals, which helped pave the way for Revs II's victory.
Similarly, Colorado Rapids 2 were triumphant in their shootout over Sporting KC II. After giving up the lead to Benny Felhaber's team in the latter part of the game, the Rapids 2 were forced to earn an extra point via penalties. So instead of going to the lockers disappointed by giving up two points, the local team redeemed themselves by performing under pressure to earn that extra point that could be a difference-maker 25 weeks from now.
Many More Weekends to Come
It's hard to imagine that nine games are in the books at MLS NEXT Pro. It is also exciting that fans will be able to stream every single match free on mlsnextpro.com, just as they did this past weekend. Of course, there will be lessons learned, and things might not be perfect as the new professional soccer league begins to take shape. However, one thing we saw this inaugural weekend and will continue to see is that the games will be competitive and exciting. 23 goals were scored in 9 games from Friday through Sunday, not including the penalty shootout.
How many more goals do we expect to see week in and week out? You'll have to tune in to find out.
