One-seed Tigers fall to one-seed Florida State in College Cup |
The one-seeded Clemson women’s soccer team met a familiar foe and a familiar result in the program’s first College Cup appearance Friday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
No. 1 national seed Florida State topped the Tigers, 2-0, sweeping a three-game series with Clemson over bouts at Riggs Field (4-2) and on the same pitch for the ACC Championship last month also (2-1). Clemson’s season wraps at 18-4-4, while unbeaten FSU (21-0-1) moves on to Monday’s final versus either BYU or Stanford (6 p.m./ESPNU/+). Clemson controlled the tempo for much of the first half for a game that stayed scoreless for the bulk of it. The Tigers registered eight shots to Florida State’s three to start, with good chances from Megan Bornkamp and Hal Hershfelt putting some pressure on FSU’s Cristina Roque. But after some chaos following an FSU corner kick, a no-look, aerial backward pass bounced just right for the Seminoles’ Kaitlyn Zipay to strike past Clemson’s Halle Mackiewicz for the 38th-minute score. FSU, winners of 13 straight going into the game, entered the match outscoring opponents 49-4 in the second half this season, and Jordynn Dudley increased that tally early. Dudley fought off a Clemson defender’s tackle and took it herself into the Clemson box to strike the Seminoles’ second goal into the upper right portion of the net in the 53rd minute. It was her 13th goal of the season. Off of a corner kick, Bornkamp notched Clemson’s first shot in 35 minutes in the 65th, but it went well wide of the post. Makenna Morris had another good chance on a breakaway in the 70th minute that sailed over the crossbar. Clemson tallied just three shots in the final 60 minutes of the game, out-shot 12-11 in the final totals. The Seminoles are a three-time national champ, with the last one coming in 2021. HOW BOUT THAT KAITLYN ZIPAAAYYYYYYYY‼️‼️ A historic season for your Tigers. We’re so proud of everything @clemsonwsoccer accomplished this season 🧡💜⚽️ https://t.co/vAlhzL0V8Q Historic Season. 🐅 ⚽️ "We just happened to run into a really good team. At the end of the day we got beat by a really good team, that's what sports is about sometimes," -Clemson Head Coach Eddie Radwanski
NOLES HAVE THE LEAD🍢🍢🍢🍢🍢🍢#OneTribe pic.twitter.com/FaYyz6cePf
Thank you for all the support this season and every season, we could not have done it without you. pic.twitter.com/Sx2L3O3qA3
First Women’s Soccer College Cup.
It won’t be our last… 🏆 https://t.co/mgeuRWSYF2
He also mentioned how much he enjoys playing FSU, said coaching against Brian is a chess match! https://t.co/s8BLVu5llh
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