Clemson Opens ACC Tournament at No. 18 Notre Dame

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson men’s soccer team opens play in the 2018 ACC Tournament with a visit to Notre Dame, Ind. and Alumni Stadium to face No. 18/No. 5-seed Notre Dame in a Halloween matchup.

Notre Dame (ACC Tournament First Round) Match Information
Who: Clemson Tigers (7-8-1; 2-6-0 ACC) vs. No. 18/No. 5-seed Notre Dame (9-5-2, 4-3-1 ACC)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
Where: Alumni Stadium // Notre Dame, Ind.
Watch: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3453780/clemson-vs-notre-dame-first-round
Live Stats: http://statb.us/v/clem/236551

Clemson Notes:

• Clemson most recently saw action on Saturday night in a 3-0 senior night victory over NC State at Historic Riggs Field. Kimarni Smith, Andrew Burnikel and Robbie Robinson each netted their second goals of the season, and Jonny Sutherland and the Clemson defense shut out the Wolfpack offense for the Tigers’ first clean sheet since their Sept. 9 scoreless draw at UMass.
• Robinson also scored in Clemson’s 3-2 win over No. 20 Syracuse last Tuesday, and his two-goal week earned him ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Patrick Bunk-Andersen completed the Clemson weekly conference honor sweep by earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week after playing a key defensive role in both wins while also assisting on Smith’s score against NC State.
• Adrian Nuñez, who assisted on Burnikel’s Saturday goal, leads the team with six goals on the year, and that combined with now two assists give him 14 points on the year. However, the Tigers have had a variety of players contributing to scoring this season, with 16 players tallying at least one point so far.
• Aside from the four aforementioned scorers, six Tigers have all found the back of the net at least once this season: Tanner Dieterich (4), Quinn McNeill (2), Grayson Barber (1), Bunk-Andersen (1), Malick Mbaye (1), and John Murphy Jr. (1).
• Charlie Asensio, Barber, Bunk-Andersen, Burnikel, Nate Hall, Johnny Heckman, Justin Malou, Chris Matlashewski, Smith and Cale Thorne have all added at least one assist.
• Sutherland has seen the majority of action in goal for the Tigers, totaling 24 saves against 16 goals allowed in 997 minutes over 11 matches. However, George Marks has also seen time, playing all 110 minutes of the Tigers’ double-overtime match against UMass as his collegiate debut in addition to every minute of Clemson’s matches against College of Charleston, Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse. Through those five matches, Marks has allowed six goals against 10 saves. Nolan Lennon played the final 11 minutes of the Tigers’ match against Furman and allowed one goal.
• The Tigers are led by team captains Bunk-Andersen and Dieterich.

Notre Dame Notes:

• Then-ranked No. 23 Notre Dame most recently saw action on Friday night in a 1-0 road defeat of the Pitt Panthers. After a tightly-contested first 84 minutes of play, senior forward/midfielder Thomas Ueland netted a late goal to lead the Irish to victory.
• Ueland’s score against Pitt upped his goal total to six on the year, which ties him with fifth-year defender Patrick Berneski for the team high. Senior defender Felicien Dumas tops the Irish in assists with six.
• Senior goalkeeper Ryan Krutz has seen the majority of time in goal for the Irish, allowing 16 goals against 32 saves in 1,030 minutes over 11 matches. However, junior Duncan Turnbull has seen recent action, playing most if not all of five of Notre Dame’s final nine regular season matches, including all 200 total minutes of the Irish’s last two contests (a scoreless draw at No. 6 Virginia and Friday’s Pitt match). Over the five matches, Turnbull has allowed two goals against nine saves in just over 450 minutes.
• After the regular season, the Fighting Irish hold the No. 5 national RPI and a No. 18 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

Series Notes:

• Notre Dame has won or the teams have tied in each of the last five matchups between the Tigers and Irish. Clemson’s last outright victory in the series came in 2005.
• The two teams met last season at Historic Riggs Field, and the then-ranked No. 9 Irish came away with a 1-0 victory over then-ranked No. 5 Clemson.
• The last time the teams played at Notre Dame was in 2015, a meeting that also saw the Irish complete a 1-0 win in a top-10 matchup.
• Dating back to 2001, Notre Dame leads the overall series 4-2-1.

For complete coverage of the Clemson men’s soccer team, follow @ClemsonMSoccer on Twitter and Instagram, and @ClemsonMensSoccer on Facebook.