Just under 10 months ago, the 2023 Notre Dame men’s soccer team left the Lynn Family Stadium pitch in Louisville with its memorable College Cup run over. On the opposing sideline, Clemson celebrated its second national championship in three years. The Tigers had ended Notre Dame’s season for a third consecutive time, doing so on the grandest of college soccer stages.
Now, as the heat of ACC play cranks up in late September, the two conference foes collide for the first time since that decisive Monday night in Kentucky. While Friday’s upcoming match between the Tigers and the Irish has a lot — perhaps too much — to live up to, it poses plenty of unique storylines.
At 3-1-3 near the season’s midway point, Notre Dame enters with something to prove. The Irish are currently unranked and receiving no votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. They outplayed No. 2 Stanford two weeks ago but didn’t find the result to show for it in a 1-0 loss at home.
Meanwhile, Clemson comes in at 5-1-2 and would like to reassert its former position as the team to beat in the ACC. The Tigers formerly held that claim but gave it up to Stanford in a 3-2 home loss to the Cardinal on Sept. 6. Clemson also carries a bad taste in its mouth from its last road match, a 2-2 draw against a lowly Holy Cross team that has losses to Sacred Heart, Massachusetts-Lowell, Stonehill and Bryant.
Tracking the Tigers
Like Notre Dame in goal, Clemson entered the 2024 season with a massive positional departure to replace up front. While the Irish lost TopDrawerSoccer Player of the Year Bryan Dowd to the MLS ranks, Clemson dealt with the same as 2023 Hermann Trophy winner Ousmane Sylla moved on to the professional scene. Last season, the Senegalese superstar led Clemson by a mile in goals (13), assists (10) and points (36). He scored the game-winning goal in the aforementioned College Cup final.
But he’s no longer a part of the picture, and Clemson’s attack is still rediscovering its identity without him. The top three returning Tiger scorers — Alex Meinhard, Nathan Richmond and Tyler Trimnal — have combined for just 12 points. Senior Joran Gerbet has stepped up to match his 2023 numbers already and lead the team with nine points. Virginia Tech transfer Misei Yoshizawa paces the Tigers with four goals but doesn’t offer the same propensity for assists that Sylla did. Overall, the Clemson offense started strong with 13 goals in its four matches but has tapered off with just five tallies in its last four.
Nevertheless, the Tigers can take comfort in the stabilizing force they have in goal. Junior keeper Joseph Andema has carried on as the full-time starter after shouldering all 23 Clemson matches in last year’s championship season. He posted respectable numbers then and has been slightly better this season despite several key losses on Clemson’s back line.
Roou and the Irish heating up at the right time
Five matches into the season, Notre Dame resided in a similar position to Clemson offensively. The Irish had piled up six goals from six different players and lacked a true goal-scoring identity.
However, with help from a couple of non-conference tune-ups at home, that has changed during the past week. Notre Dame posted six goals against Chicago State on Friday and three against Detroit Mercy on Tuesday, balancing out some tough luck early in the season.
“At the end of the day as a coach, you always want them focused on performances, but results are always good because that's the goal,” Notre Dame head coach Chad Riley said after Tuesday’s 3-1 win. “But for me, it's more about the performances and them taking confidence from those.”
At the forefront of Notre Dame’s offensive turnaround is none other than former All-ACC First-Teamer Matthew Roou. The senior forward enters the Clemson match with a hat trick in back-to-back games, ballooning his season scoring total from one goal to seven in a week’s time.
“It's a huge confidence boost. Once the goals start coming, it just gives you a little extra confidence to keep going and getting more,” Roou said. “[It’s] not like I wasn't playing bad in the games before, but it was just chances missing by a couple of inches, and it's great to just feel confident again and feel like you can carry it forward into Clemson, which is a huge one. We owe them one this weekend.”
A brief history of Notre Dame-Clemson
Over the last four years, the Notre Dame-Clemson matchup has evolved into one of the premier non-traditional rivalries in men’s college soccer. The Irish and Tigers have met in each of the last three postseasons and have combined to occupy three of the last six College Cup final spots.
Back in 2021, after Roou and Notre Dame defeated Clemson on the road during the regular season, the two sides met again in the College Cup semifinals. Both teams scored in the opening 21 minutes but went silent for the next 89, forcing overtime and, eventually, penalty kicks. In the shootout, Clemson went five for five and advanced to what would become a third national championship crown in program history.
Two years ago, the Irish and Tigers did not see one another during the regular season but immediately collided in the postseason. At the end of a down year for Notre Dame, the first-round ACC Tournament matchup went the way of Clemson by a 3-1 score. The Tigers wouldn’t do much with the 2022 campaign either, though, departing the race as a one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, both teams returned to championship-caliber form, and so did their battles on the pitch. On night one of ACC play in the regular season, Notre Dame outlasted Clemson at home by a score of 3-2, overcoming two 44th-minute Tiger goals with a masterful, game-winning free kick by Daniel Russo just after halftime. At that time, both teams occupied the fringes of the national rankings. Three months later, they had survived as the last teams standing and squared off in the College Cup final. Despite 15 shots from Notre Dame, Clemson hung on for a 2-1 victory.
Heading into Friday, both Clemson and Notre Dame wield eight men who took part in last year’s national championship match.
“We’re just excited to prove ourselves against a good team at home in front of our own crowd,” Riley said.
Friday’s contest, which will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, is set to kick off at 7 p.m. inside Alumni Stadium.
