How Clemson men’s soccer earned spot in College Cup, rematch with Notre Dame
As coach Mike Noonan walked off Paul Lorenz Field in Corvallis, Oregon on Dec. 4, his Clemson men’s soccer team pulling off a win on top-seeded Oregon State’s home field via penalty kicks didn’t surprise him.
The Tigers have been resilient all season, including the week prior against Kentucky in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 16. They shut Kentucky out in the first half before giving up a goal in the 84th minute to tie the match. Four minutes later, Alvaro Gomez scored as the Tigers sent the Wildcats home with a 2-1 victory on Nov. 28.
Against Oregon State in the quarterfinals, however, Clemson (15-5-1) gave up a first-half score. The Tigers then battled back to tie the game on Pipe Fernandez’s penalty kick with six minutes remaining in regulation, eventually sending the match into two overtimes. Once again, the group responded and made all four penalty kicks (one each from Isaiah Reid, Oskar Agren, Hamady Diop and Justin Malou) to keep the season alive.
Noonan acknowledged the heartbreakers his team has had in the past during the playoffs, which made the weekend win even sweeter. This season was the third time in six years the Tigers made the quarterfinals after appearances in 2016 and 2019. It’s the first, however, where they advanced.
“We just stay at it until the clock runs out, and I think that it’s a testament to the senior leadership of the team,” Noonan said. “We’ve got 11 seniors, guys who have been here, who have had that experience. You really can’t replace that.”
The Tigers will look to that leadership and more when facing Notre Dame for the second time this year in the College Cup at 6 p.m. Friday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The last time Clemson and Notre Dame faced off was two months ago during ACC play when the Fighting Irish took a 2-0 win at Clemson’s home, Riggs Field.
Since then, the Tigers have only lost two matches — one of which was to Duke in the ACC tournament semifinals — and have outscored opponents 18-9.
Senior goalkeeper George Marks has played a key role in that process by learning that, sometimes, less is more.
“It’s almost like a referee, isn’t it? If you don’t see him, he’s doing a really, really good job,” Noonan commented. “The goalkeeper’s organizing everything in front of them — then he only has to come up with maybe one or two spectacular saves in the game and his team is generally going to win the game. We’ve kind of dialed George down to that and refined him in terms of the other areas of his game: his communication, his organization, his distribution and how he reads the game and how he helps others in front of him read the game and organize our team.”
Marks, who has 66 saves and started all 21 games this season, is still a confident goalie, though. He’s never one to shy away from making plays when needed. The senior only gave up one first-half goal in six total shots on target and 22 total shots faced then came up with two crucial penalty kick saves against the Beavers to help his squad make it to the next round.
“He’s always been a great shot stopper,” Noonan said of the Raleigh, North Carolina native, “but even commanding his box and then now saving penalties and penalty kick shootouts and having to steal to be able to stand up and do that and win games for his team. He’s come a long, long way.”
It also doesn’t hurt to have a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in Agren on your side. The junior Swedish defender has scored five goals this year and helped the Tigers to allow just 0.839 goals per game, which is 18th-best in Division I. If he won, he’d be the first Tiger to earn the award, though Wojtek Krakowiak won the Hermann Trophy Award in 1998. The MAC Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy Award merged in 2002.
Clemson’s upcoming College Cup trip will be the program’s ninth appearance and second under Noonan after the Tigers made the national championship game in 2015.
Whether or not Clemson will make it back to that point will be determined on Friday night. The one thing Noonan does know, however, is his team’s resilience and experience won’t make it easy for Notre Dame.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Noonan said. “They’re extremely well coached. Notre Dame athletes are always well-disciplined and really good sportsmen. We’re looking forward to a fantastic game against, yes, someone who we’re a little familiar (with).”
Clemson’s is making its ninth College Cup appearance and second under Noonan after the Tigers made the national championship game in 2015. The Clemson program has national championship wins in 1984 and 1987.
2021 College Cup how to watch
- Game 1: Clemson (15-5-1) vs. Notre Dame (14-5-4), 6 p.m. Friday (ESPNU)
- Game 2: Georgetown (18-2-1) vs. Washington (17-1-2), 8:30 p.m. Friday (ESPNU)
- Game 3: National championship game, 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPNU)
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
