Clemson Will Open 2012 Men’s Soccer Season Friday Night

CLEMSON, SC–The Clemson men’s soccer team will open its 2012 season on Friday night as the Tigers will play host to USC Upstate at 7:00 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field.   This will be the 11th meeting between the two teams on the soccer field.   Clemson leads the overall series 9-0-1.      Clemson Head Coach Mike Noonan will have nine starters returning to the 2012 team.   Five of the six leading scorers from a year ago will be back for the Tigers.      Senior Austin Savage is the Tigers’ leading returning scorer with six goals and four assists for 16 points.    In goal, Cody Mizell is back for his junior season.   Last year, he had 76 saves and a 1.29 goals allowed average.    Clemson finished the 2011 season with an 8-8-2 record overall and a 4-4 mark in the ACC. The 2011 team were unbeaten in the last six matches of the season, and that equated to a 4-0-2 record.  The Tigers had wins over 14th-ranked Boston College and number one-ranked Maryland during the latter part of the season.  It also included a 0-0 draw at 25th-ranked Duke in the first round of the ACC tournament.        In 2011, Clemson recorded its first overall record of .500 or better since 2006, while the four ACC victories were the Tigers’ most since 2000. USC Upstate’s coach Greg Hooks was an assistant men’s soccer coach at Clemson in 1988-90.