PALO ALTO, Calif. - After a first-half deficit on the road, the No. 5 Clemson Tigers powered back to claim a 3-2 victory over the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal (8-3-1, 1-3-1 ACC) on Sunday night in Palo Alto. Clemson (10-2-1, 4-1 ACC) found goals from Mason Jimenez and Ransford Gyan to level the match before a Stanford own goal provided the final surge to lift the Tigers to the road win.
The Tigers ended the night with a 12-11 shot advantage against the Cardinal, and a 5-3 corner kick edge. Nine of Clemson’s shots came in the second half, which resulted in Jimenez tallying his second goal of the year, and Gyan adding to his team-leading count with his 10th of the season. Remi Okunlola also extended his team-high assist count with his seventh of the year on Gyan’s goal. In goal, sophomore Gaizka Garcia earned his second win of the season and made two saves.
It was a quiet first half on offense for the Tigers with just three shots taken in the first 45’ of play. The score remained deadlocked at 0-0 through the first 30’ of the first half but a penalty kick awarded to Stanford in the 31’ saw the first goal of the night as the Cardinal took a 1-0 lead over the Tigers, which held through the end of the opening half.
Returning in the second half, Clemson found its offensive rhythm as Malick Daouda and Xander Sevian tallied back to back shots that were blocked. The Tigers finally found the equalizer in the 73’ after Okunlola was tripped inside the penalty box. Jimenez stepped up to take the kick and capitalized on his second PK of the year to make it 1-1.
Stanford reclaimed the lead in the 76’ after a free kick on the Cardinal’s defensive end was sent into their offensive zone. The Tigers were unable to clear the ball before the Cardinal capitalized to make it 2-1 in their favor.
Clemson answered with a goal in the 82’ as Okunlola and Gyan connected on the right side of the field. After the ball bounced around the midfield, Okunlola made the dish to Gyan. Gyan backcut a defender to switch the ball to his left foot and chipped the ball over Stanford’s goalkeeper into the back left corner to level the match at 2-2.
Roughly 81 seconds later, the two teams found themselves back in the same situation with both teams converging in front of the Cardinal goal. Okunlola made the quick save to keep the ball inbounds on the right side of the field and executed a give-and-go with Gyan. As Okunlola chipped the ball into the middle of the box, Christian Scott got a foot on it to send it back skyward. On the way back down, the ball bounced off the left quad of a Stanford defender into the back of the net for an own goal.
The own goal proved to be the game-winning moment, as Clemson held off the Cardinal’s advances for the final seven minutes of play to claim the 3-2 ACC road victory.
Up Next
The Tigers return to Historic Riggs Field on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. for a matchup against Louisville. Fans can purchase tickets to catch the Tigers in person by clicking here and can stream the match on ACC Network. Live stats will be available on ClemsonTigers.com.