The Good: Clemson, which travels to South Bend on Friday to take on Notre Dame (7 pm, ESPNU), is second in the country in corner kicks per game with 8.12. The Tigers are also 8th in the country with 16.88 shots per game and 22nd in the country in Goals Per Game with 2.25 and SOG per game with 6.75.
The Bad: take out the game against RPI No. 184 Loyola (Md), Clemson is averaging just 1.71 goals per game – which ranks in a tie for 63rd in the country with teams like Charlotte, Dartmouth, Iona, Milwaukee.
The Ugly: do the math here. Lot of shots, not a lot of goals. Clemson ranks 143rd in the country in Shot Accuracy (SOG/Total Shots) with just 54 SOG on 135 shots (.400).
That has to be fixed in this stretch of games against conference foes at pre-season No. 2 Notre Dame (3-1-3), versus current No. 3 UNC (5-0-2) and at pre-season No. 24 Louisville (4-3-1).
We opened the season with scoring 3, 2, 2, and 6 goals in four games – we’ve scored 5 in our last four games. So, what has changed?
Again, take out the game against a way overmatched Loyola (Md.) – would you believe we’ve actually been more accurate in the last four games? Our Shot Accuracy over the last four games that we’ve scored all of five goals in is .375 (168th in the country), but is better than the .348 (191st) shot accuracy in the first three games where we scored seven goals.
We averaged 14.33 shots per game over our first three games and have averaged a full 18 over our last four games – again, I repeat: five goals over 72 shots the last four games. We scored seven goals over 43 shots in our first three games.
We just have to start finishing. If we take the Goals/Total Shots percentage from our first three games and apply it to the last four, we should have scored 11.7 goals in the four games. We scored five.
So, I am actually encouraged by these numbers, honestly. The goals are there, we just need to – say it with me – finish. We start scoring, and we’ll get back on track for the repeat as ACC and National Champs.
Why? I think our defense has figured things out. We’ve given up just two goals in the last 448 minutes of play – both at Holy Cross and both a bit fluky at best. Opponents have averaged just nine shots per game against us since the Stanford game.
That’s winning soccer. We just need to make the back of the net move more.
So, onto the Fighting Irish. A team we beat for the national title in December. Historically good to great program.
First off, good news is that Daniel PunchableFace Russo is graduated. Also gone are Eno Nto and his 11 goals from last year, as well as Paddy Burns. Burns and Russo were just those guys you didn’t like, unless they played for your team. Goalie Bryan Dowd and his 0.70 GAA are also gone from last year.
However, Matthew Roou, Bryce Boneau and KK Balfour are back. Boneau and Balfour each had seven assists last season and have combined for one goal and seven assists already this season. Roou, fresh off a 10 goal-3 assist campaign last year, has 7 goals in 7 games this year. Thirteen of his 27 shots have been on goal and he has scored two game-winners already this season.
Also bolstering their 2.14 goals per game average is sophomore Jack Flanagan with three goals in seven games.
ND is off to a slow start like us, partly because they are giving up 1.16 goals per game – nearly half a goal more per game than last year. But they will challenge our backline by being aggressive on their runs – they’ve been called offside 24 times in the seven games.
The Irish aren’t overly possession-based – they want to get into the attacking half and keep it there (bold strategy, right?).
Against Indiana (1-1) and Louisville (2-1), they lost the possession game 60-40 and 55-45, respectively. However, against Stanford, they deserved better than the 1-0 defeat. They outshot the Cardinal 15-4 and held 60% of the possession with well over half of that in the attacking half.
So, let’s talk Joseph Andema – the man between the pipes for our Tigers. In 46 career games, the junior carries a 0.826 GAA, while Clemson is 29-9-8 in 46 games over three years. The Ghanian native has also been very good against Notre Dame, recording 13 saves over the last three games against the Irish.
Going to need that again, I think. Also, be prepared for a physical game – 21 cards have been given out in the last three games between these two, including the last 6 going to a Clemson player. Overall, ND has 10 and we have 11.
Go Tigers! Beat ND!
The Bad: take out the game against RPI No. 184 Loyola (Md), Clemson is averaging just 1.71 goals per game – which ranks in a tie for 63rd in the country with teams like Charlotte, Dartmouth, Iona, Milwaukee.
The Ugly: do the math here. Lot of shots, not a lot of goals. Clemson ranks 143rd in the country in Shot Accuracy (SOG/Total Shots) with just 54 SOG on 135 shots (.400).
That has to be fixed in this stretch of games against conference foes at pre-season No. 2 Notre Dame (3-1-3), versus current No. 3 UNC (5-0-2) and at pre-season No. 24 Louisville (4-3-1).
We opened the season with scoring 3, 2, 2, and 6 goals in four games – we’ve scored 5 in our last four games. So, what has changed?
Again, take out the game against a way overmatched Loyola (Md.) – would you believe we’ve actually been more accurate in the last four games? Our Shot Accuracy over the last four games that we’ve scored all of five goals in is .375 (168th in the country), but is better than the .348 (191st) shot accuracy in the first three games where we scored seven goals.
We averaged 14.33 shots per game over our first three games and have averaged a full 18 over our last four games – again, I repeat: five goals over 72 shots the last four games. We scored seven goals over 43 shots in our first three games.
We just have to start finishing. If we take the Goals/Total Shots percentage from our first three games and apply it to the last four, we should have scored 11.7 goals in the four games. We scored five.
So, I am actually encouraged by these numbers, honestly. The goals are there, we just need to – say it with me – finish. We start scoring, and we’ll get back on track for the repeat as ACC and National Champs.
Why? I think our defense has figured things out. We’ve given up just two goals in the last 448 minutes of play – both at Holy Cross and both a bit fluky at best. Opponents have averaged just nine shots per game against us since the Stanford game.
That’s winning soccer. We just need to make the back of the net move more.
So, onto the Fighting Irish. A team we beat for the national title in December. Historically good to great program.
First off, good news is that Daniel PunchableFace Russo is graduated. Also gone are Eno Nto and his 11 goals from last year, as well as Paddy Burns. Burns and Russo were just those guys you didn’t like, unless they played for your team. Goalie Bryan Dowd and his 0.70 GAA are also gone from last year.
However, Matthew Roou, Bryce Boneau and KK Balfour are back. Boneau and Balfour each had seven assists last season and have combined for one goal and seven assists already this season. Roou, fresh off a 10 goal-3 assist campaign last year, has 7 goals in 7 games this year. Thirteen of his 27 shots have been on goal and he has scored two game-winners already this season.
Also bolstering their 2.14 goals per game average is sophomore Jack Flanagan with three goals in seven games.
ND is off to a slow start like us, partly because they are giving up 1.16 goals per game – nearly half a goal more per game than last year. But they will challenge our backline by being aggressive on their runs – they’ve been called offside 24 times in the seven games.
The Irish aren’t overly possession-based – they want to get into the attacking half and keep it there (bold strategy, right?).
Against Indiana (1-1) and Louisville (2-1), they lost the possession game 60-40 and 55-45, respectively. However, against Stanford, they deserved better than the 1-0 defeat. They outshot the Cardinal 15-4 and held 60% of the possession with well over half of that in the attacking half.
So, let’s talk Joseph Andema – the man between the pipes for our Tigers. In 46 career games, the junior carries a 0.826 GAA, while Clemson is 29-9-8 in 46 games over three years. The Ghanian native has also been very good against Notre Dame, recording 13 saves over the last three games against the Irish.
Going to need that again, I think. Also, be prepared for a physical game – 21 cards have been given out in the last three games between these two, including the last 6 going to a Clemson player. Overall, ND has 10 and we have 11.
Go Tigers! Beat ND!
