Weekly football summary

Summary of the second week for men

6-0 victory over Presbyterian

Clemson United started the week with a bang against the Blue Hose, scoring six goals and shutting them out with a dominant victory. Mohamed Saye scored his first career hat-trick, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the match. After a goal off a Nathan Richmond pass gave Saye his first goal, a beautiful passing sequence led to his second:

Saye added a third goal later in the 53rd minute, and debutant Pape Mar Boye scored his first collegiate goal just three minutes later. Jackson Wrobel scored Clemson’s sixth goal of the night on a penalty kick to complete a convincing victory over Presbyterian.

Lost 3-2 to Notre Dame

On Saturday, the Tigers hit the road to face the Fighting Irish in the first game of the ACC playoffs. In a wild first half, Notre Dame took a 2-0 lead on a couple of quick goals before Clemson roared back just before halftime. Gael Gilbert saved Clemson’s first goal off a rebound from Silla to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute, and Brandon Parish hit the shot every midfielder dreams of just 41 seconds later to equalize:

Unfortunately, the tie was short-lived, as in the 49th minute, Notre Dame’s Daniel Russo hit a phenomenal free throw past the gloves of Clemson goalkeeper Joseph Andema. As a former goalkeeper, I can say that it’s never nice when someone scores a goal like that, but sometimes you just have to do your best and give it your all. The score remained 3-2 until the final whistle, and Clemson was 0-1 in ACC play and only 2-2-1 overall.

Summary of the second women’s week

Lost 1-0 to Arkansas

The women’s team has played poorly so far, with a 21-1 goal difference in the first six games. A tie with South Carolina in the first game of the season was the only blemish on their record through six games, setting up a big showdown with the seventh-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

Clemson didn’t disappoint, playing physical defense against Arkansas’ fast attack and earning the win thanks to goalie Hallie Mackiewicz’s sixth clean sheet of the season. Clemson’s only goal came on a threaded pass from Tatum Short to Caroline Conti, who passed the Razorback goalie flawlessly with her first goal of the season:

The victory moved the Tigers to 6-0-1 heading into their road game against Georgia.

Tied 1-1 with UGA

After defeating Arkansas, Clemson traveled to Athens to face the Bulldogs on Sunday. After a goalless first half, Georgia was the first to strike in the 49th minute and took a 1-0 lead. Clemson didn’t flinch and continued to apply pressure, eventually tying the score thanks to senior Makenna Morris, who got through three UGA defenders and passed to Emma Wennar, who pushed the ball between the Bulldog goalie.

The tie keeps Clemson undefeated on the season at 6-0-2 heading into conference play this week.

Upcoming matches

The men’s team will face USF in Tampa tonight at 7 p.m., before returning home to continue conference play against the well-known Duke Blue Devils. USF is only 1-3, but recently posted an impressive 1-0 win against the Indiana Hoosiers. Duke has a solid record of 4-0-1 and looks like Clemson’s toughest opponent ever. Picking up a win on the road and then getting back into contention with Duke won’t be an easy task, but the Tigers need to at least split these two games to stay at .500 going forward.

The women’s team will begin conference play on Friday against the fifth-ranked Florida State Seminoles. FSU has dominated through the first five games and will look to continue their excellent form during the season at Clemson.

There are several high stakes games for Clemson this week, so try to catch one while you wait for football to return this Saturday!