Post by hoosier on Dec 13, 2021 15:35:38 GMT -5
Isaiah Reid, who grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and was a Clemson fan since early childhood, scored both goals for the Tigers in their 2-0 Men's College Cup final win over the Washington Huskies.
Twenty seconds after kickoff, Washington goalkeeper Sam Fowler came out of his penalty area to clear a hopeful long ball out of the Clemson half from Oskar Agren. But Fowler whiffed, allowing the sprinting Reid to stroke the ball into an empty for a 1-0 lead.
Reid, who committed to Clemson as a sophomore while playing for the Charlotte Soccer Academy, scored Clemson's second goal 14 minutes later with 13-yard header set up by Charlie Asensio's cross. Ousmane Sylla, after three Huskies converged on him at the top of the penalty, fed Asensio.
The Huskies had nine shots, two of which required saves from Clemson goalkeeper George Marks. The Tigers took four shots.
Reid, a junior, had seven goals going into the final but just one in the previous 14 games.
"It was extremely special," said Reid. "Yeah, I hadn't scored much in 14 games. But I didn't let that deter me from trying to help out the team and try and score goals. My team supported me, and it just feels really good to score two goals and help my team win the natty."
The title marked Clemson's third after 1984 and 1987 championships under Coach I.M. Ibrahim. Current Clemson coach Mike Noonan has now guided the Tigers to eight NCAA tournament appearance and two College Cup finals, the first of which was a 2015 loss to Stanford.
"You just have to take your moments, don't ya?" said Noonan. "They can happen in the first minute of the game and they can happen in the 94th minute of the game. When the moments come, you have to be prepared and I think that's the best part of the team. We told them they needed to focus, and we told them they needed to play free. And we told them they needed to have fun.
"We play a game to have fun and I think the guys had fun today. They played free and they were focused and ready to take their moments."
The Huskies were making their first College Cup appearance.
"We got every minute out of the season we could," Washington coach Jamie Clark said. "We all said we wanted to take every drop out of this season, and we got it."
Twenty seconds after kickoff, Washington goalkeeper Sam Fowler came out of his penalty area to clear a hopeful long ball out of the Clemson half from Oskar Agren. But Fowler whiffed, allowing the sprinting Reid to stroke the ball into an empty for a 1-0 lead.
Reid, who committed to Clemson as a sophomore while playing for the Charlotte Soccer Academy, scored Clemson's second goal 14 minutes later with 13-yard header set up by Charlie Asensio's cross. Ousmane Sylla, after three Huskies converged on him at the top of the penalty, fed Asensio.
The Huskies had nine shots, two of which required saves from Clemson goalkeeper George Marks. The Tigers took four shots.
Reid, a junior, had seven goals going into the final but just one in the previous 14 games.
"It was extremely special," said Reid. "Yeah, I hadn't scored much in 14 games. But I didn't let that deter me from trying to help out the team and try and score goals. My team supported me, and it just feels really good to score two goals and help my team win the natty."
The title marked Clemson's third after 1984 and 1987 championships under Coach I.M. Ibrahim. Current Clemson coach Mike Noonan has now guided the Tigers to eight NCAA tournament appearance and two College Cup finals, the first of which was a 2015 loss to Stanford.
"You just have to take your moments, don't ya?" said Noonan. "They can happen in the first minute of the game and they can happen in the 94th minute of the game. When the moments come, you have to be prepared and I think that's the best part of the team. We told them they needed to focus, and we told them they needed to play free. And we told them they needed to have fun.
"We play a game to have fun and I think the guys had fun today. They played free and they were focused and ready to take their moments."
The Huskies were making their first College Cup appearance.
"We got every minute out of the season we could," Washington coach Jamie Clark said. "We all said we wanted to take every drop out of this season, and we got it."
