No. 7 Clemson Takes Down Syracuse 2-1

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 7 Clemson men’s soccer team defeated Syracuse 2-1 in the Tigers’ last road match of the regular season on Saturday night. With the win, Clemson improved to 11-3-0 overall and 4-3-0 in the ACC, while Syracuse fell to 6-8-2 overall and 0-6-1 in conference play.

Syracuse scored the only goal of the first half, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead in the 7th minute on when Tajon Buchanan found Johannes Pieles, who slipped it inside the far post.

Diego Campos evened the score in the 75th minute with his eighth goal of the season. Kimarni Smith crossed the ball into the box, finding Campos, who tapped it into the back of the net on a sliding shot. Oliver Shannon gave Clemson the lead in the 80th minute after Smith passed the ball up to Shannon just past midfield, and the senior dribbled up the field and laced it into the back of the net.

“It was an excellent team victory on the road,” head coach Mike Noonan said. “Give Syracuse a lot of credit, because they prevented us from doing much of what we are very good at. In saying that, our leaders and seniors were massive tonight in taking the three points. I’m really happy for them. It was tough together in a big way.”

Clemson returns home for its final match of the regular season against No. 5 Louisville on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field, and the match will serve as Senior Day for the team’s eight seniors.