Clemson men's soccer relishes its chance at revenge in All-ACC semifinal at College Cup

After traveling to Corvallis, Oregon, for its Elite Eight matchup last week, this week’s trek to Cary, North Carolina, for a College Cup semifinal must seem like a backyard jaunt for Clemson’s men’s soccer team.

The 8th-seeded Tigers will play No. 4 seed Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPNU) at the WakeMed Soccer Complex.

The winner will play the winner of No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Georgetown in the national championship match at 2 p.m. Sunday.

“This is something that 204 other teams wish they were doing,” Clemson coach Mike Noonan said.

Clemson has been here before – nine times, to be exact – and a victory would send the Tigers to a national championship game for a fifth time.

“Every season here I feel like we have a good belief,” said Clemson midfielder Quinn McNeill, who played in high school at J.L. Mann in Greenville. “Clemson’s a great program and playing in the ACC always lines you up for an excellent season.

“Coming into this season, it did feel a little different. After our loss to Marshall in the Sweet 16 last year, we were really hungry to get back. We’re ready to get over what happened last year.”

And in October.

Notre Dame defeated Clemson 2-0 at Clemson’s Riggs Field on Oct. 9, handing the Tigers one of only two home losses this season. The Fighting Irish would later win the ACC Tournament.

“If you look back at that game, I think we played really well; we just couldn’t score,” McNeill said. “Kudos to them. They were able to get a couple of chances and beat us, but I think this is a great matchup and revenge is always great.”

McNeill, a graduate, is a prominent figure on a veteran team with 11 seniors, and that has been instrumental in the Tigers’ success.

“They’re very resilient and very experienced,” Noonan said. “We just stay at it until the clock runs out. It’s a testament to the leadership on the team. We’ve been blessed with some really good players.”

Senior defender Oskar Agren – a first-team All-ACC selection – has been named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy. Hamady Diop, Ousmane Sylla and keeper George Marks were named second-team All-ACC while McNeill was tabbed for the third team.

They helped Clemson to a 15-5-1 record and a 34th NCAA Tournament appearance – the eighth-highest total of any program. Notre Dame is 14-5-4.

“We’ve been in these situations before, and I think it kind of tells what kind of program and what kind of people we are,” McNeill said. “We handle adversity really well, so it’s a testament to our character. All of us came together from the first day and really bonded and worked together for a common goal like this.

“I know we’re going to have tons of Clemson people traveling to the game, so hopefully we’ll make the stadium orange. If we can make it as close to a home game as possible then we’ll be in a great position to win.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson faces Notre Dame in an All-ACC soccer showdown at College Cup