Breaking down Notre Dame’s title game against Clemson
For a third-straight year, the ACC is guaranteed to have the men’s soccer national champion when No. 2 Notre Dame (13-2-6) faces No. 9 Clemson (143-5) in the College Cup final Monday in Louisville, Ky. (6 p.m., ESPNU). Clemson won the title in 2021, while Syracuse was champs a season ago.
This will be the 15th meeting between the programs, with the Irish holding the 7-5-2 series lead overall. That includes a win in the regular season, a 3-2 triumph for Notre Dame over the Tigers on Sept. 9. Clemson could have the mental advantage going into Monday, however, as they’ve ended the Irish season the last two years. The Tigers beat Notre Dame in the College Cup semifinals in 2021 and the first round of the ACC Tournament in 2022.
Here is a look at how both teams have made it to Monday’s finale.
Notre Dame grinding out wins in the postseason
The Irish haven’t done its fans any favors with the way they’ve won its last three playoff games.
After a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Kentucky in the second round, Notre Dame had to go to penalty kicks to beat Western Michigan and Indiana in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, before hanging on to a 1-0 win over Oregon State in the semifinals Friday. The Beavers had a sequence where four shot attempts came in a 10-second span, with one of them be stopped by the chest of Irish defenseman Josh Ramsey.
“I think any team that’s at the end playing has probably had some games like that,” Notre Dame coach Chad Riley said. “I think it just means you have a good, tough, resilient group that knows how to take care of the key moments in
these games. That’s usually what separates teams that win the championship versus ones that don’t.”
The defense has been stellar all season for the Irish, allowing 13 goals all season. Only one has come in the playoffs, with shutouts of Kentucky, Western Michigan and Oregon State coming during the last month.
“People don’t realize the amount of saves I don’t have to make because they’re blocking or they’re getting in the right position to deal with any threats that come our way,” said Irish goalkeeper Bryan Dowd of the defensive players for his team. “It’s all due to those guys.”
Offensively, Notre Dame has had a balanced effort. All four postseason goals have been scored by a different player so far: Bryce Boneau and Nolan Spicer against Kentucky, Daniel Russo against Indiana and Eno Nto against Oregon State.
For the season, Nto leads the Irish with 11 goals, while Matthew Roou is right behind with 10 tallies.
“I think it just takes the pressure off of each individual,” said Riley of having versatility on offense. “And obviously, it means that the other team can’t key on one person a ton. Having the ability for a lot of players to score, but also in different ways I think is good.”
Clemson rides defense to College Cup final
It’s been a simple formula for the Tigers this postseason: don’t let the other team score.
Clemson has yet to concede a goal in the tournament, outscoring its opponents, 7-0. That includes a 1-0 victory over No. 5 West Virginia in the semifinals Friday.
“Defending is not just the goalkeeper and the defenders,” Clemson head coach Mike Noonan said. “I think what we’ve done really well over the course of the tournament is we’ve defended from the front all the way to the back.”
The Tigers’ defenders have even gotten in on the scoring, as sophomore defender Shawn Smart scored the lone goal in the win over the Mountaineers.
Like Notre Dame, Clemson has had plenty of options on offense, with 14 players scoring goals for the Tigers this season. Ousmane Sylla leads the way with 12 goals, while Alex Meinhard has added seven to be the top two scoring threats.
In net, Joseph Andema had made 48 saves, only allowing 18 shots get past him for goals.
Riley knows it’ll be a different Clemson team Monday than the one they faced three months ago in South Bend.
“They had some new players and transfers coming in that I think have just gelled and become part of the team more than earlier in the season,” Riley said. “Like most good teams, they’ve grown from game to game, so I think they’re a more settled team.”