Tigers Battle Hard in Home Opener, Earn Draw Against No. 17 Buckeyes
CLEMSON, S.C. - No. 25 Clemson women’s soccer (0-0-2) tied No. 17 Ohio State (0-0-1), on Sunday afternoon at Historic Riggs Field in the 2026 home opener.
“Really proud of our kids for dealing with the conditions,” Said Head Coach Eddie Radwanski. “Unfortunately playing a player down, we kept our resiliency up. Obviously we played a good team in Ohio State. Lori’s teams are always very good, well-disciplined. A little bit of a challenging game with the temperature. We had a few moments where we thought we could take advantage of it which didn’t happen but solid defensively, another clean sheet- that’s a good thing considering what happened to us last year. Really good effort on the kids’ part, good to see that type of fight and if we bring that type of mentality to every game we’re going to be in a good place”
The two programs combined for seven total shots in the first half. Ohio State got off three shot attempts, only one of which was on goal when graduate goalkeeper Nona Reason saved an attempt at the bottom left of the net by Ohio State’s Ava Bramblett. Clemson took four shots in the first half, two of which were on goal by junior Anna Castenfelt and sophomore Natalie Brooks, but did not find the net. The time of possession for both clubs was even in the first half.
In the second half, the Buckeyes held a man advantage after Clemson picked up a red card, but the Tigers continued to fight. OSU had the best chance to capitalize in the 74th minute on a free kick from inside the Clemson penalty box. Sophomore Juju Harris came up with the deflection on the kick from Bramblett to end the threat and keep things even at 0-0. The Tigers took five corner kicks in the half, that included a shot attempt off the head of sophomore Elle Bissinger that was just high.
Both teams combined for 19 total shots throughout the match in what was a fairly even game statistically. The Tigers controlled possession for 51% of the match and had five shots on goal compared to the Buckeyes’ four.
Reason once again secured four saves, bringing her season total to eight and earned back-to-back clean sheets for her seventh career shutout. Castenfelt led Clemson offensively for the second-straight match with four shots and two shots on goal.
Up Next
The Tigers hit the road for the Palmetto Series in Columbia on Thursday, Aug. 20. Action against the Gamecocks is slated to begin at 7 p.m. on SECN+.