The No. 22 Clemson Tigers (10-4, 2-4 ACC) earned their tenth win of the season against the Louisville Cardinals (4-8, 1-5 ACC) in a 19-8 victory on Saturday.
The Tigers took the lead early with a goal from freshman Sofia Chepenik barely two minutes into the game, quickly followed by a trip to the back of the net from senior Hanna Hilcoff.
This began a tug of war of goals that would endure throughout the first half. Louisville responded to the Tigers’ lead with a goal of their own, but Hilcoff quickly shut them down with her second of the game. The Cardinals responded with another, which would end up being the final of the quarter.
The second quarter saw the offensive tempo continue to speed up. Clemson started off strong with a Jalyn Jimerson goal, but Louisville didn’t take long to retaliate and cut the Tigers’ lead to one. The back-and-forth action continued after attacker Gianna New scored, making her first goal of the game and 40th of the season.
The Cardinals demonstrated their grit as they did not let up easily. Less than a minute after New’s goal, Louisville once more closed the Tigers’ lead to one. The Tigers went on to score back-to-back goals, followed by Louisville pushing back with two goals of their own within a minute of each other.
The next play saw the Clemson defense force a tactical stop, which earned the Tigers possession of the ball and led to a second goal from Jimerson.
Jimerson’s goal kicked off a four-point run for the Tigers, as Hilcoff achieved a hat trick with her third goal shortly after, followed by another from Chepenik and midfielder Marina Miller’s first of the game to solidify an 11-6 lead going into the half.
Clemson only continued to prove their dominance after coming out of the locker room. The offense poured in five straight goals in the third, extending their run to nine back-to-back points.
The Cardinals’ first two goals of the fourth quarter ended the Tigers’ streak; however, goals from attacker Belle Martire, another by New and a final from Maddy Moloney would finalize the score at 19-8.
The Tigers’ sophomore goalie Emily Lamparter saved nine shots while only allowing eight goals to achieve a .529 save percentage.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, April 8, in an away game against the top team in the nation, No. 1 Syracuse, at 2 p.m. EDT.