Clemson Upsets No. 17 Wake Forest in Final Regular Season Home Match

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson University women’s soccer team (6-4-5, 3-3-2 ACC) upset No. 17 Wake Forest (9-3-3, 3-2-2 ACC) 1-0 Thursday night at Historic Riggs Field.

The Tigers and Demon Deacons had a hard-fought, scoreless first half. Juju Harris broke the deadlock with a goal in the 74^th minute, ultimately earning her fourth game-winning goal of the season.

How it Happened

Clemson battled with Wake Forest for the first 45 minutes, entering halftime tied 0-0. The Tigers had two shots (both on goal) compared to the Demon Deacons having four (none on goal). Wake Forest also had more corner kicks (3-2).

Harris scored her sixth goal of the season, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Renee Lyles and Maria Manousos had the assists with Lyles reaching 17 in her career and Manousos having her sixth.

Nona Reason recorded three saves, bringing her season and career totals to 20 and 71, respectively. The Tigers finished the night with nine shots, having six of them on goal.

Highlights

• Half | Coach Radwanski’s interview
• 72’ Harris gives Clemson a 1-0 lead | Broadcast view | Field level view

Coach Radwanski’s Post-Match Interview

“This was a really good win tonight. We beat a top 25 opponent. Wake is a good team. In all of my years here at Clemson, we’ve had nothing but good soccer games. We were fortunate to come out on top tonight.”

“I thought our kids played quite well in certain moments, creating pockets of opportunity to threaten the goal. Juju took advantage of the moment, and we got one in. I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting some of their threats, but in general they’re still a threat to deal with.”

“Whether it was from August or from the beginning of September, here we are. Midway into October, this group has gotten better. You have to give them a little grace to grow, especially with young players. I’m really impressed with their Never Say Die attitude. They don’t give up, and they leave it out on the field.”

“We’ve built up some good rhythm. The schedule is a little user-friendly for us right now. In the early part of the season, we had weekends with two games against some of the top teams. Now, we’re playing single games and have been able to recover, train, get prepared and go over tactics properly. This was the result of us being able to do something like that. We just need to keep our rhythm going and keep building on the confidence that’s been established.”

Starting XI

• Defender Neely Kerr (15^th career start)
• Midfielder Emily Brough (43^rd career start)
• Midfielder Lyles (66^th career start, 17^th career assist)
• Forward / Defender Tatum Short (44^th career start)
• Forward Natalie Brooks (seventh career start)
• Defender Jolie Jenkins (13^th career start)
• Midfielder Anna Castenfelt (23^rd career start)
• Forward Harris (14^th career start, sixth career goal)
• Defender Reese Klein (14^th career start)
• Goalkeeper Addy Holgorsen (21^st career start)

Off the Bench

• Goalkeeper Reason (25^th career match played, 71 career saves)
• Defender Maddie Costello (10^th career match played)
• Defender Mackenzie Duff (73^rd career match played)
• Forward Manousos (63^rd career match played, sixth career assist)
• Midfielder / Defender Carla Small (15^th career match played)

Up Next

The Tigers will face Boston College on the road next Friday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. Fans will be able to stream the match on ACCNX and can follow along via live stats on clemsontigers.com.

For complete coverage of the Clemson women’s soccer program, follow @ClemsonWSoccer on X, Instagram and Facebook.