Clemson Men’s Soccer to Open 2002 Season

Aug. 29, 2002

The Clemson men’s soccer team will open the 2002 season at the Indiana Invitational Tournament in Bloomington, IN Friday and Saturday. Clemson will play Butler on Friday night at 5:00 p.m. and Indiana on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. Currently Clemson is ranked ninth by the NSCAA and eighth by Soccer America. Indiana, Clemson’s opponent on Saturday night is ranked first in both the NSCAA and Soccer America polls.

Clemson finished the season with a 19-5 record overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Eight. The 19 wins were tied for third most victories in a season. The 1984 and 1998 teams won 22 matches each. The 1985 team also won 19 matches.

Dimelon Westfield is the Tigers’ leading returning scorer with nine goals and five assists for 23 points. Steven Rhyne is the second leading returning scorer with seven goals and seven assists for 21 points.

Doug Warren is one of Clemson’s best ever goalkeepers. The senior is fifth on the Clemson career list for most saves and fourth for the best goal allowed average (0.98). This will be the first meeting ever between Clemson and Butler on the soccer field. This will be the 10th meeting between Clemson and Indiana in soccer. Indiana leads the overall series 5-4. In matches played at Bloomington, Indiana leads the series 3-2. Head Coach Trevor Adair is 0-3 vs. Indiana.

At Clemson, Head Coach Trevor Adair has a 101-39-10 record in seven years at Clemson. For his career, he has a 135-63-15 record in 11 years of coaching as he spent four years at Brown (1991-94). Last season, the Tigers won 10 of their 19 matches by a one-goal margin. The Tigers had 10 shutouts last season. In overtime matches, the Tigers had a 3-1 record including two overtime wins in the NCAA Tournament against Kentucky and Alabama-Birmingham.

Last season, Clemson was 5-0 at home and 8-3 overall against nationally ranked teams. The eight wins against ranked opponents came against Notre Dame, Virginia Commonwealth, South Carolina, Furman, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Virginia, and Alabama-Birmingham. It was the most wins over ranked teams for the Clemson program since 1984.