It’s a talking point that many announcers have said throughout the season: It’s harder to win the ACC tournament than it is to win the NCAA Tournament. Last year, we did both.
In 2022, Syracuse did both. In 2021, we just did the latter.
The Tigers – which host Providence (13-5-3) on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the NCAA second round – are now 31-28-13 in the ACC tournament and will be looking to go to 64-29-8 in their NCAA tournament history. No. 9 seed Clemson is 16-2-1 in its history in the second round and 44-12-2 at Historic Riggs Field.
It’s the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that Clemson has earned a national seed and a first-round bye.
While Clemson didn’t get the trophy on Sunday in Cary, NC against Wake Forest, it went down in the record book as a draw. Clemson, now 14-2-4 overall, has an 11-game unbeaten streak.
To quickly recap the ACC Championship game, Clemson scored first off a corner kick when Lukas Magnason was there at the back post in the 20th minute. Wake would catch us out of position on a counter in the 39th minute to tie it before the half at 1-1.
That score would hold for the next 66 minutes as it went into penalty kicks. Five from the spot weren’t enough as it went into the eighth round with Wake prevailing after Samir Dishnica slipped while attempting his kick.
Without question, Coach Noonan knows his guys and who takes the PKs and you probably don’t plan on needing eight kickers. Just some things I found interesting:
Jimenez, a sophomore from San Diego, CA., has played in 28 games over his two years at Clemson with one start coming against Holy Cross this year. He scored a goal against Loyola (Md.) off a PK. So, certainly has the trust to take them for the Tigers.
Prick of the Game is the NCAA selection committee. Clemson beat Wake 1-0 on Sept. 20 and then they went eight rounds of PKs in the Championship Game. The Committee then gives Wake Forest the eighth seed and Clemson the ninth seed.
Clemson has more wins, less losses than the Deacons. It just doesn’t make sense.
In looking at past results of performances in the ACC tournament and how that plays into the NCAA tournament, there really isn’t any correlation. Under Noonan, Clemson has made the NCAA quarterfinals five times. In those five years (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023), the Tigers lost in the ACC semis (2015, 2022), lost in the ACC final (2016, 2019) and won the ACC title (2023).
On to Providence, which won their first-round game on Thursday 2-1 over Bucknell, the second lowest RPI ranked team in the tournament (112). North Florida was the lowest at 152 and lost 2-1 at West Virginia.
The Friars deployed a 4-3-3 against the Bison, but Bucknell did us a huge favor: they pressed the hell out of Providence. The Friars had to work hard for the 2-1 victory in the cold and rain. Had Bucknell sat back, the legs of the Providence players could have been saved.
They were not. So, hats off to Bucknell.
Providence wasn’t overly adept at keeping the ball amidst the press either, but I will allow for the elements to have contributed some to that. The Friars were able to make some penetrating passes beyond the Bucknell backline and could counter with decent pace.
While the Friars are 18th in RPI, their results don’t tell me how.
They won the East Division of the Big East Conference regular season title, going 5-1-2 in the conference, but they were helped by the schedule. They lost to Georgetown 3-0 and drew against St. John’s and Creighton; the Hoyas are No. 3 in RPI and the No. 4 national seed, neither St. John’s nor Creighton made the tournament.
The Big East wins came against Seton Hall (No. 89 in RPI), Marquette (128), UConn (75), Villanova (171) and Xavier (101). They did beat UConn and St. John’s in OT in the Big East tournament before being eliminated against Georgetown in the final.
Of their 13 wins, 11 came by one goal. They began the season with a 2-0 win over Quinnipiac and then beat UConn 2-0 in the Big East Quarterfinals.
The Tigers do have two common opponents with Providence this season: Syracuse and Boston College. Clemson defeated Syracuse 6-1 and BC 1-0, while Providence lost 2-1 to the Orange and drew against BC 1-1. The only NCAA tournament team that Providence beat this year was UMass, a 2-1 victory back on Sept. 2.
But let’s not get it twisted quite yet. While these results paint a pretty picture, what it does tell us is that they are very good at limiting goals. The only time they allowed more than two goals was the 3-0 loss to Georgetown on Oct. 4.
In fact, they only allowed two goals four times and they are 0-3-1 in those games. With seven shutouts, keeper Lukas Burns owns a 0.958 GAA with a .778 save percentage, numbers that rank 29th and 30th in the country, respectively.
For as good as they are defensively, they struggle mightily on the attack. Their 1.29 goals per game ranks 132nd in the country and with just 13.4 shots per game, they have been limited this season. They have not scored more than two goals in a game this year – not a typo.
They’ve scored two goals in nine of the 21 games, one goal in nine games and have been shutout three times. Bruno Rosa leads the Friars with 16 points (five goals, six assists), while Israel Dos Santos Neto has six goals (all in the last seven games) and two assists. Aidan Davock also has five goals and two assists.
The Tigers rank 11th in shots per game (15.6), 3rd in goals per game (2.65) and first in corner kicks per game (7.25). Alex Meinhard is pacing us with 11 goals (8 in last 9 games) and an assist, while ACC Midfielder of the Year Joran Gerbet has seven goals and eight assists.
Since being thrown into action, Paddy D has a 1.19 GAA, which would rank 69th in the country. If we take out the first half against VT, where he was thrown to the wolves, that number drops to .818 – 14th best in the country. His save percentage since halftime of the VT game is .789, 23rd best.
The Friars and Tigers have played three times under Noonan, with Clemson winning 2-1 in all three games, including the third round of the 2019 NCAA tournament in overtime.
Not to state the obvious, but while things look good on paper, we can’t take anything for granted. While Clemson has some good wins on the year, it also only beat BC 1-0, tied VT and Holy Cross, beat Wofford 2-1 and trailed to Queens twice. The Friars are capable if Clemson lets them be.
The Tigers don’t need to look too far to understand what can happen. Furman shocked UNC in penalties on Thursday in the first round, Gardner-Webb took down Oregon State 1-0, and NCSU won in 2 OT over Charlotte.
Go Tigers! Beat Providence!
@JTJohnston @UrHuckleberry @jbf1981 @leetp @Clem'sSon @Clemson Rag @TigerFlow @CoffeeIsForClosers @BarnwellTiger @Paul Strelow @padtigers @1Clemson @toby_corriston @gooddogjudge @BoomBoom82 @False9 @doodog @Clemsonu90 @Tigerrag864 @ajpbnd @CAPT KIRK @Watson to Renfrow @acwill07 @rocky29670 @Rchitekt @MaxCalifornia @Smiling_Tiger @tiger1995 @moradatiger70 @charlestontiger417 @UNSWERVINGLY @JimTurkey @CU99 @The89Tiger @Spencer_York @Kbouch @JohnstoneF419 @BShealy13 @kingkyle1008 @4thAndSixteen @Hilton Head Tiger @CuTigers2020 @PAWrocka @bigREDDDDD @doodog @KNRTIGER @Beer & Bacon @B4him13 @ClemGuy1979 @MoneMan @XRP589
In 2022, Syracuse did both. In 2021, we just did the latter.
The Tigers – which host Providence (13-5-3) on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the NCAA second round – are now 31-28-13 in the ACC tournament and will be looking to go to 64-29-8 in their NCAA tournament history. No. 9 seed Clemson is 16-2-1 in its history in the second round and 44-12-2 at Historic Riggs Field.
It’s the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that Clemson has earned a national seed and a first-round bye.
While Clemson didn’t get the trophy on Sunday in Cary, NC against Wake Forest, it went down in the record book as a draw. Clemson, now 14-2-4 overall, has an 11-game unbeaten streak.
To quickly recap the ACC Championship game, Clemson scored first off a corner kick when Lukas Magnason was there at the back post in the 20th minute. Wake would catch us out of position on a counter in the 39th minute to tie it before the half at 1-1.
That score would hold for the next 66 minutes as it went into penalty kicks. Five from the spot weren’t enough as it went into the eighth round with Wake prevailing after Samir Dishnica slipped while attempting his kick.
Without question, Coach Noonan knows his guys and who takes the PKs and you probably don’t plan on needing eight kickers. Just some things I found interesting:
- Mason Jimenez took the first penalty
- Centerback Titus Sandy Jr. missed his fourth-round shot
- Mathieu Brick and Dishnica played 0 of the 110 minutes, but took the sixth and eighth round kicks.
Jimenez, a sophomore from San Diego, CA., has played in 28 games over his two years at Clemson with one start coming against Holy Cross this year. He scored a goal against Loyola (Md.) off a PK. So, certainly has the trust to take them for the Tigers.
Prick of the Game is the NCAA selection committee. Clemson beat Wake 1-0 on Sept. 20 and then they went eight rounds of PKs in the Championship Game. The Committee then gives Wake Forest the eighth seed and Clemson the ninth seed.
Clemson has more wins, less losses than the Deacons. It just doesn’t make sense.
In looking at past results of performances in the ACC tournament and how that plays into the NCAA tournament, there really isn’t any correlation. Under Noonan, Clemson has made the NCAA quarterfinals five times. In those five years (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023), the Tigers lost in the ACC semis (2015, 2022), lost in the ACC final (2016, 2019) and won the ACC title (2023).
On to Providence, which won their first-round game on Thursday 2-1 over Bucknell, the second lowest RPI ranked team in the tournament (112). North Florida was the lowest at 152 and lost 2-1 at West Virginia.
The Friars deployed a 4-3-3 against the Bison, but Bucknell did us a huge favor: they pressed the hell out of Providence. The Friars had to work hard for the 2-1 victory in the cold and rain. Had Bucknell sat back, the legs of the Providence players could have been saved.
They were not. So, hats off to Bucknell.
Providence wasn’t overly adept at keeping the ball amidst the press either, but I will allow for the elements to have contributed some to that. The Friars were able to make some penetrating passes beyond the Bucknell backline and could counter with decent pace.
While the Friars are 18th in RPI, their results don’t tell me how.
They won the East Division of the Big East Conference regular season title, going 5-1-2 in the conference, but they were helped by the schedule. They lost to Georgetown 3-0 and drew against St. John’s and Creighton; the Hoyas are No. 3 in RPI and the No. 4 national seed, neither St. John’s nor Creighton made the tournament.
The Big East wins came against Seton Hall (No. 89 in RPI), Marquette (128), UConn (75), Villanova (171) and Xavier (101). They did beat UConn and St. John’s in OT in the Big East tournament before being eliminated against Georgetown in the final.
Of their 13 wins, 11 came by one goal. They began the season with a 2-0 win over Quinnipiac and then beat UConn 2-0 in the Big East Quarterfinals.
The Tigers do have two common opponents with Providence this season: Syracuse and Boston College. Clemson defeated Syracuse 6-1 and BC 1-0, while Providence lost 2-1 to the Orange and drew against BC 1-1. The only NCAA tournament team that Providence beat this year was UMass, a 2-1 victory back on Sept. 2.
But let’s not get it twisted quite yet. While these results paint a pretty picture, what it does tell us is that they are very good at limiting goals. The only time they allowed more than two goals was the 3-0 loss to Georgetown on Oct. 4.
In fact, they only allowed two goals four times and they are 0-3-1 in those games. With seven shutouts, keeper Lukas Burns owns a 0.958 GAA with a .778 save percentage, numbers that rank 29th and 30th in the country, respectively.
For as good as they are defensively, they struggle mightily on the attack. Their 1.29 goals per game ranks 132nd in the country and with just 13.4 shots per game, they have been limited this season. They have not scored more than two goals in a game this year – not a typo.
They’ve scored two goals in nine of the 21 games, one goal in nine games and have been shutout three times. Bruno Rosa leads the Friars with 16 points (five goals, six assists), while Israel Dos Santos Neto has six goals (all in the last seven games) and two assists. Aidan Davock also has five goals and two assists.
The Tigers rank 11th in shots per game (15.6), 3rd in goals per game (2.65) and first in corner kicks per game (7.25). Alex Meinhard is pacing us with 11 goals (8 in last 9 games) and an assist, while ACC Midfielder of the Year Joran Gerbet has seven goals and eight assists.
Since being thrown into action, Paddy D has a 1.19 GAA, which would rank 69th in the country. If we take out the first half against VT, where he was thrown to the wolves, that number drops to .818 – 14th best in the country. His save percentage since halftime of the VT game is .789, 23rd best.
The Friars and Tigers have played three times under Noonan, with Clemson winning 2-1 in all three games, including the third round of the 2019 NCAA tournament in overtime.
Not to state the obvious, but while things look good on paper, we can’t take anything for granted. While Clemson has some good wins on the year, it also only beat BC 1-0, tied VT and Holy Cross, beat Wofford 2-1 and trailed to Queens twice. The Friars are capable if Clemson lets them be.
The Tigers don’t need to look too far to understand what can happen. Furman shocked UNC in penalties on Thursday in the first round, Gardner-Webb took down Oregon State 1-0, and NCSU won in 2 OT over Charlotte.
Go Tigers! Beat Providence!
@JTJohnston @UrHuckleberry @jbf1981 @leetp @Clem'sSon @Clemson Rag @TigerFlow @CoffeeIsForClosers @BarnwellTiger @Paul Strelow @padtigers @1Clemson @toby_corriston @gooddogjudge @BoomBoom82 @False9 @doodog @Clemsonu90 @Tigerrag864 @ajpbnd @CAPT KIRK @Watson to Renfrow @acwill07 @rocky29670 @Rchitekt @MaxCalifornia @Smiling_Tiger @tiger1995 @moradatiger70 @charlestontiger417 @UNSWERVINGLY @JimTurkey @CU99 @The89Tiger @Spencer_York @Kbouch @JohnstoneF419 @BShealy13 @kingkyle1008 @4thAndSixteen @Hilton Head Tiger @CuTigers2020 @PAWrocka @bigREDDDDD @doodog @KNRTIGER @Beer & Bacon @B4him13 @ClemGuy1979 @MoneMan @XRP589
Last edited:
