CLEMSON, S.C. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team earned a big 2-0 road victory at No. 9 Clemson Saturday night at Riggs Field. The Fighting Irish (7-4-1, 3-1-1) have now won four straight and six of their last seven.
The Irish scored off of a corner kick in the 64th minute, as sophomore forward Daniel Russo connected on his second goal of the season. Freshman forward Matthew Roou later put the match on ice when he scored in the 87th minute, marking his fifth goal of the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a tale of two halves as the Irish defense was tested in the first, but the backline stood its ground to keep it level at 0-0 heading into halftime. Clemson outshot Notre Dame 8-2 in the first half, but Irish goalkeeper Bryan Dowd turned in a superb performance in net.
Dowd recorded a huge save in the 29th minute, when he dove fully extended to his right to keep the Tigers off the board. The sophomore then made another athletic save around the 39th minute as he rushed to the top of the box and executed a sliding punch to knock the ball away from a Clemson attacker.
The Irish turned the tide in the second half and it started with a near goal just 38 seconds in. Daniel Russo hit a beautiful back flick pass to Matthew Roou in the Clemson box, who’s shot around a pair of Tigers defenders hit off the crossbar.
Notre Dame remained on the front foot in the half and eventually found the breakthrough goal in the 64th minute. It came via a Kyle Genebacher corner kick that found Mohamed Omar on the back post, who jumped passed it back to the middle of the six-yard box, where Russo put it in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Roou, who came so close to start the half, was later rewarded in the 87th minute when he delivered the final blow to Clemson. Roou with just one defender to beat, used his speed to gain enough space in the box to strike the ball far post and in.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Very proud of the team tonight. Clemson is a very good team and we did what we had to do to win and credit to the guys they competed at a very high level. We were a little tentative in the first half but were solid. In the second half we came out much more aggressive and earned the victory away from home.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
The Irish earned a momentous victory on the road at Riggs Field, which has been a tough venue for visitors to earn points. In fact, it’s just Clemson’s second loss at home in its last 33 matches at Riggs Field.
UP NEXT
The Irish return to Alumni Stadium for another ACC showdown, as they welcome Pitt to town for a 7 p.m. ET match on Saturday, Oct. 16. The game will air on ACCNX.
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— ND —