On Tuesday evening, the Clemson men’s soccer team fell to VCU with a 2-1 score at Historic Riggs Field.
The Tigers, 3-1-1, were coming off an impressive win over a top-10 team, the Pittsburgh Panthers. Expectations were high entering the night, but VCU ultimately pulled off the upset.
The Tigers were expected to continue playing at such a high level after they netted the first goal of the game and started with a 1-0 lead. Wahabu Musah, the sophomore forward, scored off a great run into the box from midfield, where he put the ball past the goalkeeper in the far bottom left part of the goal.
Clemson went into halftime with the lead, 1-0, but was not able to carry the momentum into the second half. VCU, 2-3-1, scored two unanswered goals to regain the lead.
The first goal came within five minutes of the start of the half, where freshman forward Deniss Hayes evaded multiple Clemson defenders and fired a shot past goalkeeper Joseph Andema to equalize the match.
In the 63rd minute, the Rams finally captured the lead off a game-winning goal from freshman midfielder Mohammed Ibrahim.
The shot was initially deflected by a Tiger defender, but Ibrahim followed up his shot and left the match with the game-winning goal over the top-five opponent.
Clemson United looks to bounce back from the stunning upset when they head to Dallas, Texas, on Saturday at 8 p.m. to square off against SMU, 3-2-1.
