Clemson Soccer: Mixed Results For the Women, Total Domination For the Men

Women’s Soccer - 10-5-1 - #22

Clemson 2 - Miami 3 - OT

Clemson 3 - Pitt 2 - OT

Same old story for the women. They are losing, or struggling to win, games they dominate against inferior competition.

Miami

Clemson went down to Coral Gables and lost to a middle of the road (5-7-2) Miami squad. Once again, Clemson out shot their opponent by a substantial margin (24-15) and put the other team under withering pressure (18 corner kicks) but came away with only 2 goals and a loss.

The first half was particularly disappointing for the Tigers as they out shot Miami 13-4 but went into halftime tied 0-0. Sadly, this has been the theme of the season. Play well, don’t score, let the opponent hang around when they should be out of the game.

In the second half, the defense took matters into their own hands. Mackenzie Smith and Dani Antieau (both defenders) provided the Tigers with both of their second half goals, but couldn’t keep the Hurricanes off the scoreboard. A penalty kick in the 89th minute leveled the game from Miami, and a goal in the 110th minute won it for them. They shouldn’t have been in the game, but Clemson couldn’t finish, and they took advantage.

Pitt

It was Senior Night at Historic Riggs Field, and a senior helped the Tigers squeak by a 5-8-3 Pitt team that had no business being in the game. Senior forward Julie Mackin’s 2 goals in regulation looked to have the Tigers comfortable ahead, but two Pitt goals in a span of 4 minutes leveled the game.

Clemson outshout Pittsburgh 30-11 but needed overtime to win the game. That’s comically bad finishing. You almost have to try and not put the goal in the back of the net to achieve such stunning futility. Luckily for the Tigers, freshman Hal Hershfelt managed to find the game winner 1 minute into overtime to secure a much needed victory for the fading Tigers.

Next Game

Clemson @ Boston College - Thursday, October 31st - 7PM

Overall

With one game left in the regular season, there is no time left to figure things out in the attack. Clemson’s forwards and midfielders can’t score, and it’s hard to win when the players that are supposed to score don’t score. The Tigers have no margin of error in the back. If this team is going to make noise in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA tournament, they’re going to have to win a bunch of low scoring, 1 goal games.

The Tigers have the skill to beat teams, but are going to need luck to win games. It’s not great.

Men’s Soccer - 13-1-1 - #2

Clemson 5 - Radford 0

Clemson 3 - BC 1

Radford

Robbie Robinson was on a one man seek and destroy mission against Radford. I’m not sure what Radford’s done to Robbie, but it must have been egregious, because he took 9 shots (4 on goal), scored a goal, and recorded 3 assists. That’s an absurd amount of activity for a forward.

The game started on a sour note for Radford after giving Clemson an own goal a minute and 38 seconds into the match. Things only went down hill from their, as Robinson punished Radford the rest of the match. Adrian Nunez scored Clemson’s first non-own-goal, finishing off a nasty Robinson back heal assist from 4 yards out in the 7th minute. Tanner Dieterich supplied the third goal, cleaning up a deflection from a Robinson shot from 3 yards out, to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

Robinson opened the scoring in the second half with a wicked free kick from 21 yards out in the 77th minute. James Brighton was the last recipient of a Robinson assist, finishing the scoring for the Tigers in the 78th minute with a shot from 10 yards out.

Aside from the own goal, Robinson either scored or assisted on every Clemson goal (his free kick went down as unassisted). That’s a pretty solid night for the Clemson star.

Boston College

Robinson’s incredible work rate was on display yet again against Boston College. His stat line wasn’t quite to it’s Radford level of incredible, but 7 shots (2 on frame) and goal is still impressive.

Robinson started the scoring for Clemson in the 32nd minute with an unassisted goal from 10 yards out. The Tigers went into half with a frustrating 1-0 lead in a game they were clearly dominating.

Tanner Dieterich calmed some nerves coming out of the half with a goal in the 47th minute off a Phillip Mayaka assist. James Brighton got into the act for the second game in a row, recording his 4th goal of the season on a Grayson Barber assist. The Tigers maintained firm control over the game but conceded a penalty kick in the 78th minute to make the score look more competitive than the actual game.

Next Game

Clemson @ NC. State - Friday, November 1st - 7 pm

Overall

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t anticipate the Clemson Men’s soccer team being the highest rated fall sport on October 29th, and yet, here we are.

The Tigers continue to lead the NCAA in goals per game, averaging a robust 3.8. In addition to leading the nation goals per game, the Tigers are far and away the best passing team, leading the nation assists per game with 4.2.

It helps to have the best player in the nation, and it’s hard to argue that Robbie Robinson isn’t the best. He is second in the nation in goals per game, averaging 1.0 goals per game, 12th in the nation in assists per game with .57, and 4th in shots per game with 4.64 (I like this stat because it shows his prodigious activity level). Robinson is the complete package and is having one of the best overall seasons in Clemson soccer history.