Three Clemson Players Honored

Nov. 11, 2008

CLEMSON, SC–Three Clemson players were named to the 2008 All-Atlantic Coast Conference men’s soccer team as announced by the league office on Tuesday.

Clemson’s David Newton, a junior defender, and Joseph Bendik, a junior goalkeeper, were both named to the All-ACC second team. Teammate and defender Francklin Blaise was named to the All-ACC freshman team.

Newton has started 15 matches for the Tigers this season. He has played in 44 matches and has two goals and four assists in his career from his defender position.

Bendik has started all 17 matches this season. He has a 1.52 goals allowed average and has 85 saves this season. For his career, he has 189 saves and a 1.43 goals allowed average.

Blaise has started all 17 matches as a freshman. The native of Miami, FL has proved to be a stalwart in Clemson’s defense this season.

Over the years, 98 different players have earned 191 first or second team All-ACC honors since Clemson first fielded a men’s soccer squad in the 1967 season. The 191 All-ACC selections is the most honors by an ACC school.

Sixth-seeded Clemson will play third-seeded Boston College in the quarterfinals of the 22nd Annual Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC Wednesday.

Match time for the Clemson-Boston College match will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday’s action will be played on WakeMed Soccer Park’s Koka Booth Stadium, while the semifinals and title game on Friday and Sunday, will be played on the main Field, WakeMed Soccer Stadium.

The Tigers are now 7-8-2 overall, while Boston College is 9-6-2 this season. Clemson is led in scoring by Michael Brooks with six goals and one assist for 13 points. Hassan Ibrahim is the Tigers’ second leading scorer with four goals and four assists for 12 points.

Boston College is led in scoring by Alejandro Bedoya with six goals and four assists for 16 points. Edvin Worley has four goals and five assists for 13 points.

Boston College defeated Clemson 2-0 on October 31, in Chestnut Hill, MA during the regular season. The winner of the Clemson-Boston College match will play the winner of the Maryland-North Carolina contest in the semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

This will be the fifth meeting between Clemson and Boston College on the soccer field. Clemson leads the overall series 2-1-1. The Tigers and Eagles first met in 2005.

For complete coverage of the 2008 ACC Men’s Soccer Championship, please visit TheACC.com and make sure to check out the 2008 ACC Men’s Soccer Championship page. All games throughout the tournament are available online through ACCSelect.com, while the championship game will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net.