Tigers pour it on in second half against No. 21 Cards

Ousmane Sylla scored Clemson's first goal of the night and added another in the second half. (Clemson athletics photo)

by Brooks Thomason - Correspondent - Fri Oct 06 22:09:10 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson (8-3-1) knocked off No. 21 Louisville (7-3-1) 4-0 at Historic Riggs Field in a dominant display for the Tigers, where the goals all came in the second half.

The game started in the right direction for Clemson, as Mike Noonan’s side looked to pounce on early opportunities.

An early Clemson chance came by way of a missed bicycle kick and a missed volley from close from Alex Meinhard in the first 10 minutes, but the Tigers looked to score.

Clemson dominated the possession, as they had it inside Louisville’s half for most of the first half; the Tigers’ high press made Louisville sit back and wait for a counterattack or a chaotic event to score.

Louisville had their first chance when the ball bounced out to David Boccuzzo, who hit a driven shot to the bottom left corner, but he pushed it wide. Louisville had the Tigers scrambling, and their strategy was to cross and run into a chaotic moment.

Clemson gained two free kicks quickly, in the 31st and 34th minutes. The first free-kick came from the right, and a beautifully placed ball gave Nathan Richmond a diving header in a crowd of players, but he missed it wide right. The second free kick curled from the left, but Louisville keeper Alex Svetanoff claimed the cross.

Clemson’s corner in the 38th minute was dropped down to Remi Okunlola, whose shot was blocked by a Louisville defender. The ball rolled to Arthur Duquenne, who hit a whistling shot that missed just left of the bottom corner. A huge gasp from the crowd and applause knew the Tigers were close to an opener.

The first half concluded with both sides looking to improve their performance in the first half. It was goalless, but 18 total shots gave the fans an exciting game.

The second half started precisely how Clemson wanted. A through ball to Nathan Richmond and a missed aggressive tackle left the sophomore with just the goalkeeper to beat, but he passed it across the box to Ousmane Sylla, who slotted it home for the Tigers’ first goal.

Clemson took advantage of a Louisville red card offense, with a free kick spilled right into the feet of Gael Gibert, giving Clemson the second goal they needed. Louisville was looking for answers, and being down to ten men would not help.

The floodgates proceeded to open for the Tigers, but they were just missing the final piece. Nathan Richmond received a pass from the right and put it in the net, but the goal was flagged for offside. After that, Gael Gibert rocketed a shot off the crossbar and another Clemson close play.

In the 80th minute, Sylla took a curler from outside the box, which deflected off a Louisville defender and rolled past Louisville keeper Ale Svetanoff.

Four minutes later, a free run down the left side gave Arthur Duquenne a lot of green grass. He curled a beautiful cross to a wide-open Alex Meinhard, who tapped it in. Clemson celebrated while Louisville looked around and was all but ready for the final whistle.

After the final whistle, Noonan was asked about what he told his players in the locker room at halftime.

“The one thing I say all the time is 99% concentration is 100% failure. If the game is still 0-0, we can make one mistake,” Noonan said.

The match ended with Clemson earning a ranked victory at Historic Riggs Field. Clemson goes to play Syracuse next in New York on Sunday, October 15th (1 p.m./ESPNU), while Louisville looks to bounce back against Ohio State in Louisville on Tuesday.