Eighth-Ranked Clemson Men’s Soccer Downs Maryland 2-0

Oct. 28, 2001

Clemson, SC – On a goal and an assist by Paul Souders, the eighth-ranked Clemson men’s soccer team defeated the University of Maryland by a score of 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Historic Riggs Field. With the win, the Tigers improved their record to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The loss broke Maryland’s three game winning streak and dropped the Terrapins to 7-6-1 overall and 0-3-1 in the conference.

After a rather slow start for both teams, Clemson struck at the 27:43 mark of the first half when sophomore Paul Souders picked up a miscleared ball just outside of the penalty box and pushed a shot by the Maryland keeper who was out of the goal trying to clear the ball. The goal was the seventh of the year for Souders.

“When I saw the ball coming to me and that the keeper was out of the goal, I just tried to keep it low and place it into the middle of the goal,” said Souders. “It was very tempting to try and blast the ball as hard as I could, but I knew that all I had to do was get it passed the keeper.”

The score remained 1-0 until a little over 16 minutes into the second half when sophomore Steven Rhyne headed in a corner kick from the foot of Souders. The goal was also the seventh of the year for Rhyne, who Sunday provided a spark off the bench just as he had done in several key games for Clemson this season. With their goals on Sunday, Souders and Rhyne are now tied for second on the team in goals

“I was just trying to kick the ball to the penalty spot,” said Souders. “We are usually looking for Oguchi on that play but Steven was there to make an incredible header.”

From that point on the Tigers were able to hold off several Terrapin runs and preserve the shutout. Junior Doug Warren went the distance in goal for Clemson and picked up his fourth solo shutout of the season.

“We are slowly getting better and beginning to play with more consistency,” said Clemson Head Coach Trevor Adair. “Our depth has been a key for us all season and I think it really played a big part in today’s win. Our guys in the back did an excellent job for us and we able to get just enough offense to win a very important ACC game.”

Clemson will next be in action on Saturday night, November 3, when the Tigers travel to Chapel Hill to take on fifth-ranked North Carolina in another important league match.

#8 CLEMSON 2, MARYLAND 0

Scoring Summary: Clemson-Paul Souders (Unassisted) 27:43 Clemson-Steven Rhyne (Paul Souders) 61:31

Shots: Clemson 11, Maryland 6 Corner Kicks: Clemson 7. Maryland 6 Fouls: Clemson 20, Maryland 11 Saves: Warren (Clemson) 3, Palmer (Maryland) 5 Attendance: 2010