One week ago, the Tigers made a statement at home, defeating the No. 14 Florida Gators as an unranked team. Clemson earned some recognition, as the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association ranked the team in the top 20 heading into the second week of play.
This past weekend, the Tigers traveled to Auburn, Alabama, and brought home two wins.
Clemson, 3-0, overcame Auburn, 18-13, under the lights on Friday night and Central Florida, 16-11, the following afternoon.
Auburn, 0-2, got off to a hot start. The home team scored the game’s first goals, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Clemson responded with six straight goals to end the quarter.
The two teams traded goals in the second quarter before Auburn stormed back to regain the lead, 8-7, before a halftime tie. Clemson would not trail for the rest of the game.
The attackman duo of Holden Morrison and Aidan McNulty scored four goals each and assisted one, totaling 10 points. Michael Ugan had a hat trick and an assist, while Landen Snyder scored 3 points on two goals.
It was a tight faceoff battle all game long, though two Clemson Tigers eventually combined for a 52.9% faceoff win rate. Logan Jordan won 12-for-23, while Caden Mastroianni went 6-for-11 for Clemson.
The Tigers learned from Friday’s slow start and came flying out of the gate one day later. Clemson scored five of the game’s first six goals, with Tyler Superczynski, Ben Spinelli, Carter Gregory, Ty Bleach and Snyder each netting one.
Gregory dished out seven assists for a total of 8 points for his game. Daniel McNulty, Bleach and Spinelli finished the day with two goals each.
Saturday’s game featured 11 different scorers for the Tigers, including a goal by long stick midfielder Anthony Ritz.
So far this season, Aidan McNulty leads the team with 11 goals and five assists. Snyder is close behind, totaling 13 points on seven goals.
Emerson Smith and Brian Dempsey have split time between the pipes in net, and both players have a 50% save percentage after three games. Smith has made 16 saves in the cage, while Dempsey has saved 15.
Clemson remained consistent in the rankings following the dominant week, ranking at No. 13. This weekend, the Tigers head to Tallahassee, Florida, to face Florida State on Friday night and Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.
