CLEMSON, S.C. – Stanford men’s soccer’s ACC tournament run came to an end on Sunday afternoon, falling 1-0 to the second-seeded Clemson Tigers in a rain-soaked quarterfinal contest.
“We had a couple of great chances, but we just weren’t quite capable of putting them away,” said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer. “They created a couple more chances than we did so we can’t complain too much. We’re obviously disappointed with the result, but now we’ll regroup and look forward to the national tournament after some rest.”
Stanford drops to a 9-5-4 mark on the season, while Clemson moves to a 13-2-3 record on the season. Clemson avenges the 3-2 loss dealt by the Cardinal in the regular season at Historic Riggs Field.
Both teams found plenty of chances in the opening half, but the two sides remained scoreless after 45 minutes. Stanford opened the game strong with four offensive attacks in the opening 15 minutes, but Clemson responded by generating threatening chances in the closing moments of the half.
Carrying the momentum into the second half, Clemson broke the deadlock in the 61st minute, counterattacking from end to end following a Cardinal corner to bury the chance off the right foot of the Tigers’ Alex Meinhard.
The Cardinal pressed forward and found a couple of penalty corner opportunities late but the Clemson defense stayed firm, holding Stanford without a shot for the final 18 minutes.
Now, Stanford will regroup during an extended break, awaiting the fate of the remainder of its season upon the release of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship bracket.
“For some of us, we will use the break to get well-rested. For others, it will be getting a little bit more game sharp so we can get more people contributing come tournament time.”
The NCAA Selection Show will take place on Monday, November 18, with the first round of the NCAA tournament beginning on November 21.