Category: Soccer

UNC stuns top-seeded Duke in comeback victory, advances to ACC women’s soccer Title Game

The UNC women’s soccer team won an absolute thriller against archrival Duke on Thursday.

No matter how well the UNC women’s soccer team played during the regular season, there’s one thing it couldn’t do: beat archrival Duke.

North Carolina lost 1-0 at Duke back in September, then again on Halloween in the regular-season finale.

On Thursday night in the ACC Women’s Soccer Tournament semifinal, the Tar Heels finally enacted revenge.

After trailing 1-0 heading into halftime, UNC staged a second-half rally, scoring its second goal with under 10 minutes left for  2-1 victory over the top-ranked Blue Devils.

North Carolina (16-4) dealt Duke its first loss since August 15, when Duke lost 1-0 at Ohio State.

If you didn’t watch Thursday night, let us take you through the exciting comeback.

The Tar Heels allowed their lone goal of the game 28 minutes in, when Blue Devils defender Cameron Roller converted on a penalty kick. UNC goalkeeper Claire Gagne was solid otherwise, saving four shots.

When the second half started counting down, North Carolina started firing up.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCGR0GjMKaC/

The Tar Heels‘ first goal looked extremely similar to Stanford’s goal in the men’s tournament. Not even five minutes into the second half, Linda Ullmark sent a long shot into the box, with the ball bouncing off Duke keeper Leah Freeman’s outstretched arms and rolling slowly into the net.

UNC only was able to earn three corner kicks against the Blue Devils’ tough defense, but made one of those pay off. With approximately 10 minutes left in the second half, North Carolina defender Trinity Armstrong scored her first goal of the season, pushing a header into the goal for a 2-1 advantage.

When the final seconds ticked off, the Tar Heels piled on goalie Claire Gagne.

North Carolina will try for its 23rd ACC Tournament Championship – and first since 2019 – at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 when it faces Florida State.

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Clemson advances in ACC Tournament after win over Louisville

Clemson advances with a big win.

Two-seed Clemson men’s soccer scored three goals in the second half to advance past 15-seed Louisville, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Historic Riggs Field. The win moves the Tigers to 12-2-3 on the season, while the loss drops the Cardinals to 6-7-4.

The Tigers out-shot the Cardinals 16-12 on the night, earned nine corners to Louisville’s four and earned their second victory over the Cardinals this season. Patrick Donovan started in goal for Clemson and made a career-high five saves.

Joran Gerbet gave the Tigers the lead in the 47’. Following a foul in the box drawn by Tyler Trimnal, Gerbet buried his fourth PK goal of the season to put the Tigers in front. Louisville responded one minute later, however, tying the match at one.

Later in the 58’ following a shot attempt by Wahabu Musah, Ransford Gyan played a corner kick to Adam Lundegard who headed a pass to Alex Meinhard who put the ball in the back of the net to put Clemson back in front at 2-1.

In the 60’, Remi Okunlola took on the Louisville defense by himself and was able to rocket a shot past the keeper and into the corner to give Clemson the two-goal advantage.

The Tigers forced five Louisville saves in the first half and held the Cardinals to just three shots.

Up next, the Tigers await the winner of the Stanford/Notre Dame contest and will host the game on Sunday at a time TBA.

-Press release via Clemson Athletic Communications 

Notre Dame men’s soccer loses ACC Tournament game on Hail Mary goal

You absolutely must see this.

The Notre Dame men’s soccer team lost its ACC Tournament opener to Stanford in the most improbable fashion. The final score was 3-2, but that doesn’t begin to describe how that score occurred.

Trailing, 2-1, with 12 seconds left, the Irish had a free kick inside the penalty area. [autotag]Matthew Roou[/autotag], who had scored the Irish’s first goal, softly kicked the ball to [autotag]Mitch Ferguson[/autotag], who then fired it home to tie the game.

Shortly after the Cardinal reset play from midfield, Dylan Hooper fired a desperation kick from slightly further away. The shot turned out to be on goal, and goalkeeper [autotag]Collin Travasos[/autotag] wasn’t able to stop it.

The Cardinal somehow had regained the lead with one second left, and that lead would stand, enabling them to play Clemson in the quarterfinals.

It was as heartbreaking an ending as it could have been for the 7-5-5 Irish, who now must wait until the Nov. 18 selection show to find out if they made the NCAA Tournament. And all because of a crazy sequence that starts at 1:21 in the below video:

Never say you’ve seen everything in sports. Something new always will find a way.

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Auburn soccer bows out of SEC Tournament in first round

The Tigers historic season will not include a SEC Tournament Championship.

After a somewhat disappointing finish to the regular season, the Auburn soccer team was unable to start the postseason on a positive note, losing a 2-1 thriller in the SEC Tournament opener to LSU.

The Tigers, who came into the game as the No. 6 seed in the tournament despite leading the conference in points for most of the season, now must hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament later this month.

Head coach Karen Hoppa’s Tigers started the season 8-0 in non-conference play, but struggled mightily throughout the SEC schedule, ultimately failing to pick up a win in their final three contest of the season. The two draws and loss sank Auburn to the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament, forcing them into a first-round matchup with No. 11 LSU, who they beat 4-0 earlier in the season. Unfortunately, things did not go as well for Auburn in the rematch. Following a scoreless first half,  LSU scored a pair of goals in the 56th and 71st minute of action, forcing the Tigers into a hole they were never able to climb out of.

Auburn did out-shoot (8-4) LSU and controlled the possession for most of the game, but the Tigers’ inability to put away chances early and often led to their demise. Even though Karen Hoppa and the Tigers have now failed to capture a win in four straight contests, Auburn should still receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after a historic season in which the Tigers were consistently ranked among the top 25 in most polls.

While the Tigers have seemingly done enough to receive a bid, the NCAA Tournament committee ultimately has the final say. We will see whether the Tigers get the chance to compete for a National Championship when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday, November 11. 33 at-large bids will be handed out to complete the 64-team field.

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Auburn soccer to open SEC Tournament Sunday afternoon

The Tigers will face either Alabama or LSU in the first round

Auburn soccer will open up its SEC Tournament on Sunday afternoon against either Alabama or LSU. The Tigers, who fell down to the No. 6 seed in the SEC following a brutal travel schedule in October creating only two home games, will open up play against the No. 11 seed at 2 PM CST on Sunday.

Karen Hoppa’s squad played both the Crimson Tide and Tigers early in October, taking down LSU in Baton Rouge 4-0 before drawing 1-1 with Alabama at home a few days later. Despite the lopsided result, coach Hoppa made sure to point out LSU has been playing “much, much better since [Auburn] played them in the beginning of the season”.

While the Tigers have had a fantastic season, an early loss in the SEC Tournament may be detrimental to their hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Only 33 teams receive at-large bids to the dance, and Auburn’s late season struggles may sway the committee to look in another direction. One way the Tigers can avoid “sweating out” the bracket reveal is by taking care of business in Pensacola next week.

In order to do that, Auburn will have to win four games in seven days. If the Tigers can take care of business in the opener, they will face off with No. 3 seed Texas, who they did not play during the regular season. The SEC Tournament begins on Sunday, November 3. The Championship is scheduled one week later, Sunday November 10 at 1:30 PM CST. If Auburn can run the table, it will capture its first SEC Tournament Championship since 2002.

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Duke women’s soccer takes home ACC regular-season crown

In head coach Robbie Church’s final season, the Duke women’s soccer clinched the ACC regular-season title on Sunday night.

The Duke women’s soccer team capped off a special 2024 season by clinching the ACC regular-season title on Sunday night for the first time in seven years.

The Blue Devils made it official with a 2-0 victory over Wake Forest, their eighth win in nine conference matches.

Duke still has another ACC opponent left on the schedule, a Thursday road trip to Chapel Hill against the North Carolina Tar Heels, but a 13-1-1 overall record and an 8-0-1 conference mark through 15 matches make that result irrelevant for the final standings. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish battled the Blue Devils to a 3-3 tie on October 24, but no one has beaten them outright since the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first game of the regular season on August 15.

The Blue Devils already authored one special moment against UNC earlier this season with a 1-0 victory back on September 5, their first home win over the Tar Heels in school history.

This historic year becomes even sweeter when fans remember that 2024 will be the final season with longtime head coach Robbie Church at the helm. This is the third regular-season conference title under Church, who first took over the program back in July 2001. Duke also won the ACC crown in 2011 and 2017.

No. 3 Clemson takes down Syracuse behind Meinhard’s hat trick

Clemson takes down Syracuse.

Clemson, S.C. – Alex Meinhard recorded Clemson’s first hat trick of the season and No. 3 Clemson men’s soccer downed Syracuse, 6-1, on Friday night at Historic Riggs Field. The win moves Clemson to 10-2-2 on the year, 5-2-0 in ACC play, while the loss drops Syracuse to 6-6-3, 1-4-2 in ACC play. Friday’s six goals mark the second-straight game with six goals for Clemson.

Meinhard got the scoring started early, giving Clemson a 1-0 lead just 1:48 into play. Meinhard gathered the pass from Joran Gerbet at midfield and sprinted past all the Syracuse defenders and sent the ball just beyond the outstretched hand of the Orange keeper.

In the 15’, Syracuse was given a red card, leaving the Orange with just 10 men on the field for the remainder of the contest. Later, in the 25’, Remi Okunlola played a perfect ball to Wahabu Musah who scored his second goal in as many games this week at Historic Riggs Field. Meinhard then became the second Tiger to record a brace this season, scoring following a corner kick in the 30’. Just three minutes later, Meinhard recorded his first hat trick as a Tiger, scoring off of Gerbet’s second assist of the night. Following a foul in the box, Syracuse got on the board with a penalty kick goal in the 36’ to make the halftime score 4-1 in favor of the Tigers.

Tyler Trimnal pushed the Clemson lead back to four in the 48’, netting a header goal off of a Misei Yoshizawa corner kick. In the 63’, Antonio Illuminato gave Clemson its sixth goal in back-to-back games after Arthur Duquenne out-ran all of the Syracuse defense to create the scoring chance.

Up next, the Tigers return to Historic Riggs Field on Tuesday, October 29, hosting Wofford at 7:00 pm for Senior Day.

– Via Clemson Athletic Communications

Auburn soccer nearly sets attendance record during 2024 regular season

Auburn’s magical season led to the second highest single season attendance in program history.

The Auburn Tigers have had themselves a fantastic soccer season this fall. After starting the season with an unreal 26-0 goal differential through non-conference play, Karen Hoppa’s squad has continued to roll through the SEC, as the Tigers sit in third place in the conference heading into the final game of the season.

Auburn’s success has led to a heightened appreciation for the sport and the student athletes partaking in it on the Plains, and that has shown in the attendance numbers. Earlier this season, fans shuttled through the turnstiles at a near record rate to watch ‘The Iron Bowl of Soccer’, which drew the fourth highest attendance in program history. The Auburn family couldn’t quite out-due themselves for Thursday’s regular season finale against Georgia (1,451), but the packed house did help the Tigers finish with the second highest single season attendance record in program history (12,030).

While the Tigers are unlikely to host a NCAA Tournament round, they still do have an outside chance to do so, especially if Karen Hoppa’s squad can run the table at in Pensacola, FL during the SEC Tournament in early November. Even if Thursday was the final home game of a magical 2024 soccer season the Plains, Tiger fans will have the opportunity to cheer on Auburn throughout the postseason.

Auburn’s takes on South Carolina in its final regular season game of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers will finish no lower than fourth in the conference with a tie, and would finish third with a victory. The SEC Tournament begins on November 3, before the NCAA Tournament kicks off on November 15 from select campus sites.