Following the loss to the No. 5 Stanford last Friday, head coach Mike Noonan and the Clemson men’s soccer team bounced back strong with a 6-0 win over the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds at Historic Riggs Field.
Clemson (2-1-1) struck first early and didn’t look back with six different goalscorer in the win. Five of those scored their first goals for the team this season.
In the third minute, the Tigers got on the board immediately, with a play between midfielders Jackson Wrobel and Joran Gerbet finding the feet of forward James Kelly in the box. The junior would strike it on one touch and begin the rout.
15 minutes later, Meinhard would get involved in the goal-scoring, finding the far post on a cross from defender Galen Flynn and putting a left foot on the ball to score his first goal of the contest. It would be his third goal of the season in four games played.
To round out the half, Wrobel would get his moment on the goal-scoring, getting a rebound in the box from a van der Walt save and scoring his first goal of the season.
The Tigers weren’t done there. The team added another three goals in the second half, two coming from midfielder Antonio Illuminato and forward Tyler Trimnal off of rebounds from the goalkeeper saves. With under five minutes to go, Mason Jimenez would convert a penalty to add the icing on the cake. It was all three players’ first goals of the season.
It’s a clean sheet for Clemson United, its second of the season. Joseph Andema and Aidan Hampton would stop the scoring on the Greyhounds’ side.
The Tigers would put 20 shots on Loyola (0-3-2) with 12 being on target. With the return of defender Adam Lundegard following red card suspension, the Greyhounds only put one shot on Clemson.
“Having Adam back, you know, he is very experienced young man back there and he is a really good player,” Noonan said about his captain center back returning.
24 different players made an appearance for the squad on Tuesday night, continuing to give a younger squad experience for future games this season.
“What I think makes it even better is the performance is good, and they know that the performance is good,” Noonan said. “I don’t have to tell them that. They know that. They have good confidence and now they have to focus on gaining momentum as we begin the season.”
Clemson will be back in action on Friday night, where they will travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to face the Boston College Eagles with hopes to earn its first win in ACC play.
