The Clemson men’s soccer team had a crucial matchup this past Friday evening, where it overcame adversity and took down the No. 10-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers.
The weekend had an electrifying start at Historic Riggs Field. The No. 3 Clemson Tigers welcomed their conference foe, the Panthers, for a battle between two top teams.
Heading into the match, Clemson sophomore midfielder Ransford Gyan was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week thanks to his outstanding performance the prior week against UAB. Stakes were high entering Friday night, and the spotlight was centered on Gyan, per usual.
As soon as the match started, a certain display of intensity and physicality between the two teams became clear. In just five minutes, the Panthers earned a corner and were able to strike first to take the early lead.
A couple of minutes later, Clemson drew a whistle in the box and earned a penalty. That play led to the spotlight player, Gyan, lining up to take the penalty kick. The whole crowd expected him to put the ball in the back of the net; however, sometimes the unexpected unfortunately occurs.
Jack Moxom, the Pittsburgh goalkeeper, read Gyan like a book and had a phenomenal save.
Fans were disappointed, and Gyan was as well, but star players have a knack for being able to move on and bounce back after crucial mistakes — especially if that error occurred only during the opening 10 minutes.
Standing at 5-foot-3 and 141 pounds, the Sunyani, Ghana, native tends to have the largest impact with the smallest size. He was able to avenge his penalty miss in the 21st minute. After a poor pass by a Panthers defender in their own end of the pitch, Gyan was able to capitalize and fired the ball to the bottom center of the goal to even up the score.
Some say lightning does not strike twice; however, Gyan does. Just 15 minutes later, Gyan netted another goal for his second-straight brace to take the lead over the Panthers, 2-1.
Evidently, both squads were evenly matched, with Pitt responding to level the game once again, despite the lineups changing and the teams deploying various tactics.
However, once Gyan subbed back onto the field, Clemson was able to regain momentum. Gyan found fellow midfielder Nathan Richmond dashing towards the box for a beautiful goal placed in the bottom right part of the net by his left foot.
The sophomore standout, a player who tends to shine his brightest when the moments are high leverage, will look to continue as one of the top midfielders in the country.
