BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 9 Clemson Tigers earned their 10th victory of the regular season as they took down Virginia Tech, 1-0 on Sunday. Graduate Caroline Conti recorded the lone goal of the match and officially tallies 66 career points as a Tiger.
“This is a good win for us, Virginia Tech is a good team and you are playing them on their home field. I was pleased that we were able to have a little bit more domination of the game, which is difficult to do up here,” Head Coach Eddie Radwanski said. “I like that we created some goal scoring opportunities, we got a good goal and our defensive group was resolute. I thought we kept really good discipline and togetherness and that was enough to get the donut, the shutout and was the key to getting the win.”
The first half of the match was a defensive battle as the back line and the Tigers offense worked hard to keep the Hokies out of scoring position.
In the 27th minute, Conti was able to knock one in after an impressive pass from freshman Jenna Tobia. After receiving the ball off a pass from graduate Hal Hershfelt, Tobia was able to guide the ball to the right-hand side of the box and sent the ball flying into Conti’s possession. Without letting the ball dribble, Conti fired the pass off her right foot and knocked it in over the Virginia Tech goalkeeper.
“Getting a win today was huge. I think getting a win on the road is a very good thing for us, especially coming off of our game on Thursday so getting the three points today was a good push in the right direction,” Conti said.
The goal marked Conti’s fifth of the season and 24th in her Clemson career. Conti entered the match with 64 career points and exited the match with a grand total of 66 points in her career as a Tiger.
“I challenged her in the beginning of the year, from a statistical perspective and she has chipped in with some big and important goals. She wants to win, she is trying to help the team, she will do whatever it takes and when she gets herself in a good position, she has been very consistent with putting a goal in so that’s great to see. She is our captain, she is our leader and she is setting the example for everybody so it couldn’t happen to a better kid,” Radwanski said.
Clemson’s defense shined through again in the second half as the Hokies were unable to find a scoring opportunity against the Tigers. The Tigers outshot the Hokies 17-6, as nine of Clemson’s shots were on target. Goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz recorded five total saves against Virginia Tech as she earned her ninth shutout of the season and her 19th clean sheet in her Clemson career.
Up next, the No. 9 Clemson Tigers will head to Durham, N.C. to play Duke on Friday, October 13th. Kick-off is slated for 5 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACCNX.
For complete coverage of the Clemson women’s soccer team, follow @ClemsonWSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
-Via Clemson Athletic Communications