The No. 2-seeded Clemson men’s soccer team defeated the No. 15-seeded Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday night to advance to the ACC men’s quarterfinals on a rainy night at Historic Riggs Field.
Clemson United (12-2-3, 5-2-1 ACC) entered the match short-handed, missing goalkeeper Joseph Andema as a result of an injury that he sustained in a 2-2 draw against Virginia Tech. Junior goalkeeper Patrick Donovan stepped up, however, recording five saves and was playing a key role in the Tigers’ victory.
Following the game, head coach Mike Noonan touched on Donovan’s performance.
“He came in tonight and made some great saves and more than anything but more than anything else, he was composed, right?” Noonan said. “That’s not easy to do. You get your first start at home. You know you waited three and a half years for it, and I’m really proud of him.”
Noonan also talked about his long-standing relationship with Donovan and his family. Patrick attended Noonan’s alma mater, Staples High School in Connecticut.
Noonan added that they also attended the same church.
“They were in pew five, and we were in pew six,” Noonan said. “So I’ve known Pat since he was four. So his character, I’ve known since he was a young kid, and he kept up tonight for sure.”
The match opened scoreless, as for the first 45 minutes, the Tigers fought hard to keep Louisville (6-8-4, 0-5-3 ACC) from finding the back of the net. However, Clemson also found themselves falling short of converting a goal, and the first half ended with a score of 0-0.
The stalemate was eventually broken at the beginning of the second half when Louisville was called for a foul in the box in the 46th minute. Standout Clemson midfielder Joran Gerbet converted the penalty, giving the Tigers their first goal of the night.
Rain continued to pour as the match went on, and, under a minute later, the Cardinals found themselves in a position to score. Louisville midfielder TJ Kahoalii dribbled inside the box and scored a shot to the top right of the net in the 47th minute to tie the match at 1-1.
In the 57th minute, Clemson took back the lead. Defender Adam Lundegard found forward Alex Meinhard, who flicked on a header and put a shot past Louisville goalkeeper AJ Piela to score a team-leading ninth goal of the season and give Clemson a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers seemed to have found their stride shortly after. They scored a third goal in 15 minutes when freshman midfielder Ransford Gyan led a breakaway and passed the ball to forward Remi Okunlola, who sent the ball to the bottom left of the goal and boosted the Clemson lead to 3-1.
Donovan sealed Louisville’s fate with a diving save in the 67th minute, and Clemson United controlled the pace for the remainder of the match to advance to the next round of the tournament.
Clemson will host Stanford, who is coming off its most exciting win of the season, scoring a goal in the final seconds of the game from half field and defeating Notre Dame 3-2. The Tigers saw the Cardinal back in September at Historic Riggs Field, losing a 3-2 thriller to the away side.
Noonan touched on the importance of the upcoming match.
“Listen, the players are so used to these big games,” he said. “It doesn’t make a difference who we play. It’s how we play.”
Kickoff between the two sides will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Historic Riggs Field.
