Clemson Defeats Gardner-Webb 1-0

Nov. 4, 2008

CLEMSON, SC–Michael Brooks scored the game’s lone goal in leading Clemson to a 1-0 win over Gardner-Webb in a men’s intercollegiate soccer match at Clemson, SC Tuesday night.

Clemson is now 6-8-2 overall, while Gardner-Webb falls to 6-11 this season. The Tigers are now 7-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. All seven matches have been played at Clemson including the 2006 NCAA Second Round match that the Tigers won 3-1.

Clemson scored at the 63:48 mark. Hassan Ibrahim open with a pass that allowed him to drive towards the right post. Ibrahim laid a crossing pass back to Brooks who sent a shot on the first touch into the netting for his team-leading sixth goal of the year. This was the second game-winning goal for Brooks as he had four goals and one assist earlier this season in a 5-3 upset victory over fourth-ranked Maryland on October 3.

Gardner-Webb’s Kevin Nolan received a red card at the 37:36 mark when he received his second yellow card in tonight’s match. With the ejection, Gardner-Webb was forced to play with only 10 men for the remainder (52:24) of the match.

Clemson will play USC Upstate Friday night in the last regular season match of the season. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. The Tigers will play in the ACC Tournament next week, November 11-16 in Cary, NC. Pairings for the ACC Tournament will be announced on Monday.

“This is what you would call an ugly win,” said Clemson Head Coach Trevor Adair. “We played well and we created chances, but we could not put them away. Give Gardner-Webb credit, they had a plan and they executed that plan. We do not have any killer instinct around the goal. We make it so difficult for ourselves. We should have put three or four shots away. I’m glad for Michael Brooks that he was able to score and give us the win.”

With tonight’s victory, the Tigers are now 3-0 over the years when playing on Presidential Election Days. The Tigers defeated Erskine in 1968, and again in 1976 on previous Presidential Election Days.

Clemson 1, Gardner-Webb 0 Clemson–Michael Brooks (Hassan Ibrahim) 63:48

Shots: Clemson 17, Gardner-Webb 9 Corner Kicks: Clemson 4, Gardner-Webb 1 Saves: Joseph Bendik (CU) 4, Dane Geraci (GW) 7 Fouls: Clemson 11, Gardner-Webb 14 Attendance: 620