Wasn’t pretty, but No. 8 Clemson got the job done against Queens last week with a 4-2 victory. Were we happy? No, but certainly happier than the former No. 1 West Virginia after they fell 5-1 to Dayton (h/t @jbf1981).
So, any win is good for the soul. And the Tigers (8-2-2) have another non-conference game as they host USC Upstate (3-11-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field.
Coach Noonan became the 27th coach in NCAA history to reach 400 wins with the victory over Queens and is the fifth all-time winningest coach among active coaches. Kudos to the head man.
The last game and next game aren’t worth too much dissecting, as Queens was 175th in RPI and Upstate is 195th. Upstate is also dead last in the country in goal differential at -27 (17 goals for, 44 against).
What is more critical is looking at our health/suspensions (Gerbet, Richmond, Lundegard, Okunlola, etc), our defensive lapses and our finishing of opportunities. There could very well be some overlap of the Venn Diagram of these three, so let’s dive in.
First on health, @toby_corriston has been too kind to us in getting health updates for our players. We’ve discussed Nathan Richmond before and his back injuries – the hope being that the third-round pick in the MLS Super Draft (Hey, MLS, it’s just a normal draft – you aren’t special) can contribute as we get closer to postseason.
The big one is captain Joran Gerbet. He is the cog in the machine. Go back and watch the UNC game – Gerbet was the man that kept the Heels in constant sorrow.
While not an injury, we have missed our other captain Adam Lundegard for over 400 minutes this season because of red cards. After the straight red versus Notre Dame, Lundegard sat out the next 2 ½ games, coming back on at halftime against Queens last week.
Not to belabor the point, but with Lundegard on the field, our GAA is .654, which would rank ninth in the country. With him off the field, it balloons to a whopping 2.4 – good enough for 192nd out of 205 teams in the country.
As a whole, Clemson ranks 93rd at 1.27 GAA. With Lundegard AND Gerbet on the field at the same time, the Tigers GAA drops to .619, which would also be ninth-best in the country.
Certainly, those two aren’t the only reason for those numbers as Titus Sandy Jr., Lukas Magnason have been more than capable in the back. But the lapses are certainly less with them there.
Heading into the Notre Dame game, we were 143rd in the country in shot accuracy (SOG/Total Shots) at a paltry .400. Since then, we’ve put 26 of our 47 shots on goal, which results in a .553 percentage that would rank second in the entire country behind Incarnate Word.
A ninth-ranked defense in the country and the second-best team at putting its shots on goal would make for a great team, I’d think.
We are No. 7 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 2.42 goals per game. Oddly enough, the Palmetto State has Nos. 6-8 in that category (USC, Clemson, Presbyterian). Duke leads the country with a whopping 3.42 goals per game, but don’t let that fool you: 24 of those goals came against Howard and something called Averett. The Blue Devils, while still a good team, average 1.42 goals in their other 10 games.
One reason we are No. 7 in the country in scoring offense is because of graduate striker Alex Meinhard. He is in his sixth season, having spent his fist four at Tulsa and last two at Clemson. For the Tartu, Estonia native’s career, he has 40 goals in 74 games – 11 in 34 games in a Clemson uniform.
He won pretty much all the awards you can win in the American Conference at Tulsa. He’s been our most accurate player with 15 SOG on 24 total shots – a .625 percentage that ranks second in the ACC and eighth in the country. But, as a noted issue for the middle part of the season for the team, Meinhard has the third least number of goals of the top 15 players ranked in shot accuracy.
But here’s hoping that Meinhard, who scored three of his goals in the first four games of the season, is getting back in the groove with a goal against Queens last week.
Clemson is in third-place in the ACC Standings at the moment with games against Syracuse (6-5-3) at home on Friday and at VT (7-4-2) on Nov. 1 left. Remember, top four in regular season standings won’t have to go on the road in the ACC tournament until neutral site games in Cary, NC for the semifinals and final.
The Tigers also sit at No. 18 in RPI – 6th best in ACC behind Pitt (1), Stanford (4), Duke (6), UNC (10th), and NCSU (15). NCSU took a big jump beating ranked SMU 5-1 on Saturday.
Go Tigers! Beat Upstate!
So, any win is good for the soul. And the Tigers (8-2-2) have another non-conference game as they host USC Upstate (3-11-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field.
Coach Noonan became the 27th coach in NCAA history to reach 400 wins with the victory over Queens and is the fifth all-time winningest coach among active coaches. Kudos to the head man.
The last game and next game aren’t worth too much dissecting, as Queens was 175th in RPI and Upstate is 195th. Upstate is also dead last in the country in goal differential at -27 (17 goals for, 44 against).
What is more critical is looking at our health/suspensions (Gerbet, Richmond, Lundegard, Okunlola, etc), our defensive lapses and our finishing of opportunities. There could very well be some overlap of the Venn Diagram of these three, so let’s dive in.
First on health, @toby_corriston has been too kind to us in getting health updates for our players. We’ve discussed Nathan Richmond before and his back injuries – the hope being that the third-round pick in the MLS Super Draft (Hey, MLS, it’s just a normal draft – you aren’t special) can contribute as we get closer to postseason.
The big one is captain Joran Gerbet. He is the cog in the machine. Go back and watch the UNC game – Gerbet was the man that kept the Heels in constant sorrow.
While not an injury, we have missed our other captain Adam Lundegard for over 400 minutes this season because of red cards. After the straight red versus Notre Dame, Lundegard sat out the next 2 ½ games, coming back on at halftime against Queens last week.
Not to belabor the point, but with Lundegard on the field, our GAA is .654, which would rank ninth in the country. With him off the field, it balloons to a whopping 2.4 – good enough for 192nd out of 205 teams in the country.
As a whole, Clemson ranks 93rd at 1.27 GAA. With Lundegard AND Gerbet on the field at the same time, the Tigers GAA drops to .619, which would also be ninth-best in the country.
Certainly, those two aren’t the only reason for those numbers as Titus Sandy Jr., Lukas Magnason have been more than capable in the back. But the lapses are certainly less with them there.
Heading into the Notre Dame game, we were 143rd in the country in shot accuracy (SOG/Total Shots) at a paltry .400. Since then, we’ve put 26 of our 47 shots on goal, which results in a .553 percentage that would rank second in the entire country behind Incarnate Word.
A ninth-ranked defense in the country and the second-best team at putting its shots on goal would make for a great team, I’d think.
We are No. 7 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 2.42 goals per game. Oddly enough, the Palmetto State has Nos. 6-8 in that category (USC, Clemson, Presbyterian). Duke leads the country with a whopping 3.42 goals per game, but don’t let that fool you: 24 of those goals came against Howard and something called Averett. The Blue Devils, while still a good team, average 1.42 goals in their other 10 games.
One reason we are No. 7 in the country in scoring offense is because of graduate striker Alex Meinhard. He is in his sixth season, having spent his fist four at Tulsa and last two at Clemson. For the Tartu, Estonia native’s career, he has 40 goals in 74 games – 11 in 34 games in a Clemson uniform.
He won pretty much all the awards you can win in the American Conference at Tulsa. He’s been our most accurate player with 15 SOG on 24 total shots – a .625 percentage that ranks second in the ACC and eighth in the country. But, as a noted issue for the middle part of the season for the team, Meinhard has the third least number of goals of the top 15 players ranked in shot accuracy.
But here’s hoping that Meinhard, who scored three of his goals in the first four games of the season, is getting back in the groove with a goal against Queens last week.
Clemson is in third-place in the ACC Standings at the moment with games against Syracuse (6-5-3) at home on Friday and at VT (7-4-2) on Nov. 1 left. Remember, top four in regular season standings won’t have to go on the road in the ACC tournament until neutral site games in Cary, NC for the semifinals and final.
The Tigers also sit at No. 18 in RPI – 6th best in ACC behind Pitt (1), Stanford (4), Duke (6), UNC (10th), and NCSU (15). NCSU took a big jump beating ranked SMU 5-1 on Saturday.
Go Tigers! Beat Upstate!
