Clemson captures share of ACC Atlantic title after win over Louisville

by Press Release - Sat Oct 30 09:49:23 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON, S.C. -- The No. 15 Clemson men’s soccer team (12-4-0, 5-3-0 ACC) captured a share of the ACC’s Atlantic Division Title on Friday night with a 5-1 victory against the Louisville Cardinals (10-6, 5-3 ACC) on Senior Night. The Tigers conceded the first goal of the game before their offense finally broke through to score three unanswered.

The co-championship of the Atlantic Division clinched the Tigers a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament and home-field advantage until the conference championship in Cary, N.C.

The Tigers started the match on the front foot, creating several clear-cut chances in the first 20 minutes, all of which were turned away brilliantly by Louisville’s goalkeeper Detre Bell. Ultimately it was the Cardinals who capitalized first, putting away a beautifully struck ball into the top-right corner of George Marks’s net.

The lead was destined to be short-lived, as the Tigers put together a lovely build-up, culminating in Alvaro Gomez playing a lofted ball over the Louisville backline. A sliding Quinn McNeill got his right foot to the ball and knocked it into the net for the equalizer. The match went to halftime locked at one goal apiece.

Much like they did against FIU on Tuesday, the Tigers came out of the locker room with a fire lit under them. Hamady Diop laid a ball off to Gomez, who took a touch before curling a perfectly placed shot into the top-right corner of the frame, giving the Tigers a 2-1 advantage just four minutes into the half.

Clemson scored an insurance goal when Ousmane Sylla won a loose ball, beat a defender via a Maradona spin, and found McNeill on the right wing. McNeill played a perfect cross to Isaiah Reid, whose header resulted in a rebound that fell to the waiting foot of Mohamed Seye. The Junior forward knocked the ball home, giving the Clemson defense all it needed to hold on for the win.

The Tigers weren’t finished with their second-half massacre, as Callum Johnson and Ousmane Sylla added the fourth and fifth goals, putting the nail in the coffin and kicking off the celebrations.

“It was a total team effort, no question about it,” said a smiling Head Coach Mike Noonan. He continued, “We just beat a very good FIU team and a very good Louisville team…we’ll get some good rest and find out who we play next Sunday."

Up next, Clemson will host an ACC Tournament quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, Nov. 7 with the winner of the match between the No. 7 seed North Carolina and No. 10 seed Syracuse to be played on Wednesday. Sunday's quarterfinal will kick off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network.