No. 5 Tigers Take on Gardner-Webb on the Road Tuesday

Match Information

WHO: Clemson Tigers (6-1-2) vs. Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (1-7)RANKINGS: Clemson – No. 3 HeroSports.com, No. 5 Soccer America, No. TopDrawerSoccer.com; No. 6 NSCAA; Gardner-Webb – NRWHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.WHERE: Greene-Harbison Stadium, Boiling Springs, N.C.LIVE VIDEO: BigSouthSports.com (http://www.bigsouthsports.com/live/11544)LIVE STATS: GWUSports.com (http://www.gwusports.com/links/c7x875)FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA: @ClemsonMSoccer on Twitter and InstagramNEXT MATCH: Clemson vs. Virginia Tech, Friday, Oct. 2, 5 p.m. (100^th Anniversary Celebration of Historic Riggs Field)

Match Notes

• Clemson is third in the first RPI rankings of the season released by the NCAA on Monday, Sept. 28. The four top teams in the RPI are all from the ACC (No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Notre Dame).
• Clemson is coming off three straight contests against top-25 ranked opponents, in which the team was 2-0-1 (a 2-1 win over No. 16 Duke on Sept. 18, a 3-1 win over No. 21 Brown on Sept. 20 and a 1-1 double-overtime draw at No. 16 Wake Forest on Sept. 26).
• Five of the Tigers’ last six matches featured top-25 opponents (No. 11 Coastal Carolina, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 16 Duke, No. 21 Brown and No. 16 Wake Forest).
• Senior T.J. Casner leads the team in goals (5) and points (10), and has now scored a goal in four straight matches for the Tigers.
• Casner’s five goals rank him in a tie for third in the ACC in goals, and his three game-winning goals place him in a tie for first in the conference in that category.
• Sophomore midfielder Oliver Shannon (4 goals, 1 assist, 9 points) ranks second on the team in scoring, while junior Austen Burnikel ranks third (3 goals, 2 assists, 8 points).
• Junior Iman Mafi leads the Tigers in assists with four, which places him in a tie for second in the ACC.
• Mafi played his first year of collegiate soccer at Gardner-Webb in 2013, before transferring to Clemson before the 2014 season.
• Redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell is 6-1-2 in goal for Clemson, registering 27 saves, which is currently best in the ACC, and two solo shutouts. He has given up just seven goals in over 844 minutes played so far this season.
• Tarbell ranks fifth in four ACC statistical categories; goals against average (.75), save percentage (.794), saves per game (3.0), and shutouts (2).
• Gardner-Webb is coming off a 4-0 loss to top-25 ranked Coastal Carolina, marking a streak of six straight losses since Sept. 7.
• The Runnin’ Bulldogs are led by junior forward Sami Jilla, who has tallied six points on the season via two goals and two assists in seven games played.
• Matthew Swan and William Liles have split time in goal for Gardner-Webb this season, registering 392 and 327 minutes in goal, respectively. Swan has 30 saves and has allowed 15 goals, while Liles has 11 saves and 11 goals against.

Series Notes

• The last time these two teams met was on Sept. 17, 2014, a 6-0 win by the Tigers at Historic Riggs Field. Mafi scored two goals in the first half against his former school to lead Clemson offensively. Current Clemson players Casner, Saul Chinchilla, Thales Moreno and Oliver Shannon also scored in the match.
• Clemson has a 12-1 all-time record in the series against Gardner-Webb.