Soccer Roundup: A Little Revenge

Men’s Recap

3-2 Victory vs USF

After a 1-0 halftime deficit, Clemson United managed to roar back in the second half off some solid attacking via their 3-4-3 formation and some excellent set pieces to finish the night with a 3-2 win.

With no Mohamed Seye in the lineup, The Tigers showed some grit and managed to pull out the comeback win on the road against a tough USF squad, marking the first of three straight victories for this team.

2-0 Victory vs Duke

This one hit a little different for most Clemson fans - although it didn’t wash the bad taste from the football opener out of my mouth entirely, it certainly helped me move on.

Duke is a talented team, and was undefeated coming into this match, having just knocked off #4 UVA last week. Although the game would be played at Clemson, Duke had plenty of momentum and swagger to work with.

Clemson would open the scoring in the 18’ thanks to an awkward deflection. A Brandon Parrish pass to Shawn Smart was taken inside the box for a narrow angle, but Smart rocketed his first goal into the foot of Duke’s defender, which ricocheted into the net.

A competitive second half saw both teams miss several chances, until Clemson sealed the deal with a great header from Tyler Trimnal:

The Blue Devils couldn’t find the net, thanks to keeper Andema’s hard work in the box (4 saves on the night), but not for lack of trying. Pushing past 29 total fouls in the match, the Tigers would take the win over #8 Duke to mark their second victory in a row.

7-0 Victory vs Gardner-Webb

This is a lethal offense on display, as the Tigers are now second in the nation in total goals scored, after Tuesday night saw the Tigers net seven goals to get their total scored on the year up to 24.

Seven different Tigers scored in the affair, including freshman Remi Okunlola who directed a nice dribble across the top of the 18 before slicing a shot back across to the far corner for the goal:

Although the level of competition was hardly what Clemson faced against Duke, securing their largest goal differential of the season and third straight win is a momentum boost as they look to continue conference play this week.

Women’s Recap

4-2 Loss vs FSU

The Clemson ladies fell short on the road against the #4 FSU Seminoles in their ACC opener despite finding a 2-0 lead early on. Caroline Conti found the net first, scoring an impressive finish off a Tatum Short pass in the 5’. Just 13 minutes later, Makenna Morris added a goal of her own to stretch the Tigers’ lead to 2-0 by absolutely blasting her shot past the FSU keeper:

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that would be their only other goal of the match. FSU stormed back with two goals of their own to equalize the score going into halftime, and Clemson’s offense never really found its groove again.

The Seminoles would tack on two more goals to secure their road win, making it an exciting but disappointing ACC debut for the Lady Tigers. Head Coach Eddie Radwanski had the following to say about their first loss of the season:

“Our team will be okay. We suffered a loss to a very good team and this was a game we could have won. There are a lot of great takeaways from this game and we are going to learn and get better from it.”

At 6-1-2, the Clemson women are still sitting in a great spot, but the team must put this frustrating defeat behind them quickly.

Upcoming Matches

The men’s team is getting hot at just the right time, as they will travel to #14 Wake Forest on Friday to try and make it four consecutive victories. Wake is a strong team and will be a nice follow up to Tuesday’s exciting 7-0 victory over Gardner-Webb.

The women will also have to hit the road for their next match against Miami on Thursday. The Hurricanes aren’t having their strongest start to the season, currently sitting at 2-3-3, but they are coming into this match having just secured their only two wins, including a 2-1 victory over Syracuse.