Soccer Back On Track

Men's Soccer (9-1-2)

After getting a somewhat disappointing road draw against Wake Forest, Clemson went out and blasted hapless Gardner-Webb (4-0), lowly Virginia Tech (2-0) and clawed their way to a 1-0 road win against a talented Charlotte team.

Both offensively and defensively this set of games could not have gone better for the Tigers. 5 different players scored scored the 7 goals. Thales Moreno got his first goal of the season, which is a big plus. Moreno had gotten injured in one of the early season game and that had held him back a little. He's going to be important for our midfield depth going forward, so hopefully this goal will be good for his confidence and signals a return to good form.

TJ Casner scored in the Gardner-Webb game, which brought his consecutive games with a goal up to 5. Oliver Shannon was once again all over the field in the games, scoring a goal against Virginia Tech and notching an assist against Gardner-Webb. Sophomore Michael Melvin is developing into a good wing for the Tigers, as he drew the winning penalty in the game against Charlotte.

Defensively, Tarbell did not have to work very hard throughout any of the games. Clemson's strongest defense is through possession. The backline has performed well but it makes their job so much easier when Clemson dominates possession, as it did throughout these games. When Clemson does lose possession, it usually presses to regain possession and force the defense to make mistakes.

Now that the Tigers won the three games they were expected to win, they have an important home game against the floundering Louisville Cardinals. I'm a but surprised Louisville is currently sitting at last in the division when they were picked as one of the conference's top teams in the preseason.

Clemson is ranked at #5 in the NSCAA poll (the coaches poll). Coastal Carolina, who the Tigers drew at home, is 4th, Wake Forest is 6th, Notre Dame is 7th, UNC is 2nd, and Virginia is 10th. Thankfully Clemson does not have to play UNC or UVA in the regular season. Clemson is also 4th in the NCAA's RPI.

The program put out this video last night. Just another part of the awesome work our athletic department does.

WATCH: Go behind the scenes with the team on our trip to Charlotte & for our 1-0 win! #AllTogether #ClemsonUnited pic.twitter.com/DSo5soqKBP

— Clemson Men's Soccer (@ClemsonMSoccer) October 7, 2015

Women's Soccer (9-1-1)

There isn't too much to report on the Women's soccer front this week. The Tigers shrugged off a rather disappointing road trip to the Sunshine State and got a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Wake Forest as part of the celebration for 100 years of Riggs Field. It's an encouraging sign to see Clemson get back to their winning ways especially with an important homestand on the horizon. The Tigers play Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Pitt all in TigerTown over the next week and a half. Winning all of those games will go a long way to securing an ACC Tournament bid.