CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson men’s soccer team (10-5-1, 3-4-1 ACC) shut out NC State (6-6-4, 2-5-1 ACC) on senior night at Historic Riggs Field by a score final of 3 -0. The Tigers needed all three goals to clinch the eighth seed in the ACC Tournament, which gave them a home game in the first round.
On the importance of winning a home game, coach Mike Noonan stated: “We’re on a two-game winning streak at home and I’ve always said it’s not who you play, it’s where you play, and home field advantage is the advantage. most of every playoff game.”
The Tigers and Wolfpack went back and forth for the first twenty minutes of the game, but in the 23rd minute, Isaiah Reid was fouled inside the box and awarded a free kick. Hamady Diop converted his first field goal of the season to give Clemson a 1-0 lead with 21 minutes left in the half.
In the final minutes of the first half, freshman Isaiah Easley scored his sixth career goal on a stellar feed from Nathan Richmond, who was assisted by Marco Garcia. Brilliant build-up put the Tigers 2-0 up as the first 45 minutes drew to a close.
Goalkeeper Joseph Andema’s clean sheet was threatened early in the second half with a Luke Hill free-kick into the top right corner of the goal, but Andema made a fantastic diving save to stop the shot. Clemson’s defense silenced the Wolfpack’s efforts in the second half to shut them out. Clemson outscored the Wolfpack 11-2 over the full 90 minutes.
Late in the game, Clemson converted a crucial corner kick to score again. A ball played into the crowded box was taken care of by an NC State defender and into the net, giving the Tigers the decisive third goal they needed to win the shutout against Notre Dame.
Of the team’s performance, Noonan said: “I thought there was a lot of composure in the team tonight. I thought there was a lot of fluidity and more than anything we defended extremely well.”
Next time, The Tigers will host the nine-time champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday, Nov. 2, for the first round of the ACC Tournament. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
For all the most up-to-date information about the Clemson men’s soccer team, visit ClemsonTigers.com and follow @ClemsonMSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
