CLEMSON SOCCER

Diop knocked one down the middle to take the lead. (Clemson athletics photo)
Diop knocked one down the middle to take the lead. (Clemson athletics photo)

Diop late penalty kick lifts No. 1 Tigers over Wolfpack


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CLEMSON, S.C. -- The No. 1 Clemson Tigers (11-2-1) broke through in the 87th minute of play Saturday night to secure a late victory at home as freshman defender Hamady Diop scored his first career goal from the penalty spot. Clemson’s 1-0 win over NC State (2-8-2) on Saturday night extended its home unbeaten streak to 23 matches.

The opening 45 minutes of action were a hard-fought battle for possession with neither side able to find the back of the net. Clemson had a 5-0 advantage in shots and a 4-0 advantage in corners during the opening half of play.

The Tigers roared coming out of the half, stringing together 15 minutes of quality possession and a pair of quick corners. Clemson had a penalty kick opportunity in the 80th minute, but a save by NC State’s Leon Krapf kept the attempt out of the goal.

The deadlock was finally broken by Diop in the 87th minute, as the native of Dakar, Senegal stepped to the penalty spot after Callum Johnson drew a foul inside the box. Diop confidently took the ball, walked to the spot and slotted home the deciding goal. The Tigers defense held stout over the final three minutes and secured the squad its fifth home victory of the season.

Clemson men’s soccer will return to action on Saturday, March 27, in Newton, Mass., against Boston College. Kickoff set for 1 p.m. on ACCNX.

Quotes - Head Coach Mike Noonan

On the match...

“You know, any time you play in the ACC it’s going to be a one goal game. I think 80-90% of the games are going to be that way. We [coaching staff] told the guys about that this week, and in the locker room before the game started... The emotion to miss a penalty and then to make a penalty to win the game, and then to stay in the game to get the second penalty, that’s massive. That tells you a lot about the character of the group and tells you a lot about the challenge we keep giving to them which is that they’re here to achieve something, not just to belong as members of the men's soccer team. We’ve got more to achieve starting next week with BC [Boston College].”

On the adjustments made at half...

“We had to make a couple adjustments to our pressure. The way we were playing out of the back, we were giving the ball away too cheaply because they were sitting back and we weren’t taking the spaces that we needed to take. So we reorganized that and obviously the second half was much better.”

On Hamady Diop converting the penalty...

"...He went right for the ball. A freshman to have that type of confidence, right, is massive. For the team to trust him, that says a lot."

Postgame Notes

Clemson improved its all-time record to 697-277-93 across 61 seasons.

Head coach Mike Noonan improved his career record to 345-182-72 across 32 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Noonan is 121-66-31 at Clemson with a record of 47-31-14 in ACC play.

Clemson is unbeaten across its last 23 matches at Historic Riggs Field, as the program boasts a record of 20-0-3 during the span of play.

Clemson improved to 40-3-1 when playing at home while ranked No. 1 nationally. The Tigers are 4-1-0 under Noonan when ranked No. 1.

Clemson improved to 56-10-3 when playing a match ranked No. 1 nationally.

Clemson improves to 75-20-14 under Noonan when ranked higher than their opponent.

Noonan improves his career record against NC State to 11-1. NC State’s George Kiefer is now 1-7 against Clemson, including a 1-4 record while leading the Wolfpack.

George Marks registered the 11th solo shutout of his career on Saturday. The 11 solo shoutouts moved Marks into a tie with Joe Bendik and Cody Mizell for ninth on the all-time list at Clemson.

The shutout against the Wolfpack on Saturday was the 21st in series history and 65th for the program under Noonan.

Marks earned his 40th career appearance and 39th career start at Clemson during Saturday’s match.

Oskar Agren made his 35th start in the center of Clemson’s defense this evening.

Charlie Asensio and Justin Malou earned their 14th starts of the season this evening. The pair of outside-backs are the only two players on Clemson’s roster to have earned the start in each match this season.

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