2023 Clemson Tigers men's soccer team

2023 Clemson Tigers men's soccer
ACC tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, Champions
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	15–3–5 (4–2–2 ACC)
Head coach	Mike Noonan (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Philip Jones (11th season) Camilo Rodriguez (8th season) Malick Mbaye (1st season)
Home stadium	Riggs Field
Seasons ←  2022 2024  →

2023 ACC men's soccer standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 15 Wake Forest +	4	–	1	–	3			11	–	3	–	5
No. 1 Clemson ‡	4	–	2	–	2			15	–	3	–	5
No. 25 Syracuse +	2	–	1	–	5			9	–	5	–	7
No. 24 Louisville +	2	–	4	–	2			12	–	6	–	3
NC State	1	–	5	–	2			6	–	9	–	3
Boston College	0	–	5	–	3			3	–	9	–	5
Coastal
No. 2 Notre Dame +	6	–	0	–	2			13	–	3	–	6
No. 13 Virginia +	5	–	2	–	1			11	–	4	–	4
No. 20 Duke+	4	–	3	–	1			11	–	4	–	3
No. 6 North Carolina +	2	–	3	–	3			11	–	3	–	7
Pittsburgh +	2	–	3	–	3			6	–	7	–	4
Virginia Tech	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	9	–	4
‡ – ACC tournament champion + – Also invited to the 2023 NCAA tournament As of December 12, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: The ACC

The 2023 Clemson Tigers men's soccer team represented Clemson University during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. They were led by head coach Mike Noonan, in his fourteenth season. They played their home games at Riggs Field. This was the team's 63rd season playing organized men's college soccer and their 36th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tigers started the season with a loss to UCF and a draw with UNC Wilmington. These results saw them fall from their preseason ranking of ninth to unranked. They followed up with non conference wins over rival South Carolina and Presbyterian. They started conference play with a loss to Notre Dame. They would go on to win their next three games, including a conference match-up with Duke. Their first conference loss came at Wake Forest on September 22. That match would be the last match that Clemson would lose for the remainder of the season. They won three straight games before drawing at Syracuse. They would follow that with a win and a draw to close out the regular season with a 9–3–3 overall record and a 4–2–2 ACC record. They were runners up in the Atlantic Division.

The Tigers were the fourth overall seed in the ACC Tournament. They defeated fifth seed Duke in penalties in the Quarterfinals and ninth seed Louisville in the Semifinals to reach the Final. There they faced off against seventh seed North Carolina. The match finished 1–1 and Clemson prevailed in another penalty shootout to win their fifth ACC tournament title. ^[1] The tournament victory earned Clemson the ACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. There they were selected as the ninth overall seed. They defeated Charlotte in the second round, eighth seed New Hampshire in the third round, and sixteenth seed Stanford in the Quarterfinals to reach the College Cup. A victory over fifth seed West Virginia saw them reach the national title match against fellow ACC foe Notre Dame. Clemson went on to avenge their regular season loss to Notre Dame and win the title 2–1. The goal allowed in the title match was the only goal allowed by Clemson in the NCAA Tournament. The national title was the fourth in program history and second for head coach Mike Noonan. It was Clemson's second title in three years following their 2021 title. ^[2]

Previous season

Main article: 2022 Clemson Tigers men's soccer team

The Tigers finished the season 13–7–1 overall and 3–4–1 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. As the eighth overall seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Notre Dame in the First Round, top seed Duke in the Quarterfinals, fourth seed Wake Forest in the Semifinals and became the lowest seed to reach the final in ACC Tournament history. ^[3] They came up short in the final losing to eventual National Champion Syracuse 2–0. They received an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were awarded the sixth overall seed. After a First Round bye, they lost to UCLA in the Second Round to end their National Title defense.

Player movement

Players leaving

Players Leaving

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Trevor Manion	1	GK	6'3"	190	Junior	Phoenixville, Pennsylvania	—
Dawson Malcolm	4	DF	6'3"	190	Freshman	Clover, South Carolina	—
Hamady Diop	5	DF	6'0"	186	Junior	Dakar, Senegal	Selected First Overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Dylan Sullivan	6	MF	5'9"	160	Senior	Wappingers Falls, New York	Graduated
Tim Ströbeck	7	FW	6'0"	165	Sophomore	Hässleholm, Sweden	Transferred to Seton Hall
Elton Chifamba	8	MF	5'9"	145	Sophomore	Blacklick, Ohio	Transferred to Syracuse [4]
Joey Skinner	13	DF	6'2"	155	Sophomore	Charlotte, North Carolina	Selected thirteenth overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Derek Waleffe	16	MF	5'11"	167	Graduate Student	Madison, Wisconsin	Graduated
Alvaro Gomez	18	MF	5'8"	150	Senior	Toledo, Spain	Graduated
MJ Petry	24	MF	6'3"	155	Freshman	Mount Pleasant, South Carolina	—
Isaiah Ried	27	FW	5'10"	150	Senior	Rock Hill, South Carolina	Graduated; Selected thirty fourth overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Ben Erkens	28	DF	6'2"	180	Junior	Greenville, South Carolina	—

Players arriving

Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Joran Gerbet	6	MF	5'11"	160	Junior	Valence, France	Oregon State [5]
Alex Meinhard	15	FW	6'0"	178	Senior	Tartu, Estonia	Tulsa [5]
Jackson Wrobel	23	MF	5'9"	162	Junior	Madison, Alabama	Wofford
Gael Gibert	27	DF	6'0"	184	Graduate Student	Theirs, France	Oregon State

Recruiting Class

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Mathieu Brick DF	USA	Oviedo, Florida	Atlanta United 2	[6]
Logan Brown GK	USA	Spartanburg, South Carolina	Charlotte FC Academy	[7]
Mason Jimenez MF	USA	San Diego, California	Albion SC	[8]
Matthias Leib DF	USA	Birmingham, Alabama	Briarwood Christian School	[9]
Pape Mar Boye DF	SEN	Dakar, Senegal	N/A	[10]

Squad

Roster

As of January 12, 2024 ^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK   USA Patrick Donovan 1 GK   GHA Joseph Andema 2 DF   SEN Pape Mar Boye 3 DF   USA Adam Lundegard 5 DF   USA Terry Watson 6 DF   FRA Joran Gerbet 7 FW   USA Isaiah Easley 9 MF   ESP Mohamed Seye 10 MF   SEN Osmane Sylla 11 MF   USA Brandon Parrish 12 DF   USA Enrique Montana III 13 DF   USA Mathieu Brick 14 DF   USA Titus Sandy Jr. 15 FW   EST Alex Meinhard 16 MF   USA Mason Jimenez 17 FW   USA Tyler Trimnal

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF   USA Matthias Leib 19 FW   USA James Kelly 20 DF   USA Shawn Smart 21 MF   USA Noah Behrmann 22 GK   USA Aiden Hampton 23 MF   USA Jackson Worbel 25 MF   USA Nathan Richmond 26 FW   ITA Marco Garcia 27 DF   FRA Gael Gibert 28 DF   ENG Will Cain 29 DF   BRA Rafael Borlido 30 FW   USA Remi Okunlola 31 GK   USA Logan Brown 33 DF   FRA Arthur Duquenne 31 MF   USA Samir Dishnica

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Graham Neff
Head coach	Mike Noonan
Associate head coach	Philip Jones
Assistant Coach	Camilo Rodriguez
Assistant Coach	Malick Mbaye
Director of Operations	Rob Thompson

Source: ^[12]

Schedule

Source: ^{[13] [14]}

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 12*	No. 9	Coker	None Reported	–	Riggs Field Clemson, SC
August 15*	No. 9	Furman	None Reported	–	Riggs Field Clemson, SC
August 19*	No. 9	at  Georgia State	None Reported	–	GSU Soccer Field Atlanta, GA
Regular season
August 24* 7:00 p.m.	No. 9	UCF	L  1–2	0–1–0	Riggs Field (4,090) Clemson, SC
August 28* 7:00 p.m.	No. 9	UNC Wilmington	T  1–1	0–1–1	Riggs Field (1,575) Clemson, SC
September 1* 7:00 p.m.		South Carolina Rivalry	W  2–0	1–1–1	Riggs Field (4,573) Clemson, SC
September 5* 7:00 p.m.		Presbyterian	W  6–0	2–1–1	Riggs Field (1,465) Clemson, SC
September 9 7:00 p.m.		at No. 20  Notre Dame	L  2–3	2–2–1 (0–1–0)	Alumni Stadium (1,703) Notre Dame, IN
September 12* 7:00 p.m.		at  South Florida	W  3–2	3–2–1	Corbett Stadium (1,239) Tampa, FL
September 15 7:00 p.m.		No. 8  Duke	W  2–0	4–2–1 (1–1–0)	Riggs Field (2,953) Clemson, SC
September 19* 7:00 p.m.		Gardner–Webb	W  7–0	5–2–1	Riggs Field (1,173) Clemson, SC
September 22 7:00 p.m.		at No. 14  Wake Forest	L  0–1	5–3–1 (1–2–0)	Spry Stadium (2,528) Winston-Salem, NC
September 29 7:00 p.m.		Virginia Tech	W  2–1	6–3–1 (2–2–0)	Riggs Field (2,876) Clemson, SC
October 3* 7:00 p.m.		Winthrop	W  4–1	7–3–1	Riggs Field (1,005) Clemson, SC
October 6 7:00 p.m.		No. 21  Louisville	W  4–0	8–3–1 (3–2–0)	Riggs Field (2,575) Clemson, SC
October 15 1:00 p.m.	No. 21	at No. 10  Syracuse	T  1–1	8–3–2 (3–2–1)	SU Soccer Stadium (1,612) Syracuse, NY
October 20 6:00 p.m.	No. 15	Boston College	W  6–0	9–3–2 (4–2–1)	Riggs Field (2,470) Clemson, SC
October 27 7:00 p.m.	No. 10т	at  NC State	T  1–1	9–3–3 (4–2–3)	Dail Soccer Field (1,289) Raleigh, NC
ACC Tournament
November 5* 6:00 p.m.,  ACCN	(4) No. 14	(5) No. 8 Duke Quarterfinals	T  3–3 (4–1 PKs) 2OT	9–3–4	Riggs Field (2,061) Clemson, SC
November 8* 8:00 p.m., ACCN	(4) No. 14	(9) Louisville Semifinals	W  5–1	10–3–4	Riggs Field (3,785) Clemson, SC
November 12 12:00 p.m.,  ESPNU	(4) No. 14	vs. (7)  North Carolina Final	T  1–1 (5–3 PKs) 2OT	10–3–5	WakeMed Soccer Park (2,318) Cary, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 19* 6:30 p.m.,  ESPN+	(9) No. 14	Charlotte Second Round	W  3–0	11–3–5	Riggs Field (2,897) Clemson, SC
November 25* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	(9) No. 14	at (8) No. 10  New Hampshire Third Round	W  1–0	12–3–5	Wildcat Stadium (3,745) Durham, NH
December 2* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	(9) No. 14	(16)  Stanford Quarterfinals	W  2–0	13–3–5	Riggs Field (5,411) Clemson, SC
December 8* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	(9) No. 14	vs. (5) No. 5  West Virginia Semifinals	W  1–0	14–3–5	Lynn Stadium (3,853) Louisville, KY
December 11* 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	(9) No. 14	vs. (2) No. 4 Notre Dame Final	W  2–1	15–3–5	Lynn Stadium (4,449) Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Goals Record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name	Regular Season	ACC Tournament	NCAA Tournament	Total
1	10		MF	Ousmane Sylla	7	3	3	13
2	15		FW	Alex Meinhard	6	1	0	7
3	9		MF	Mohamed Seye	5	0	0	5
	17		FW	Tyler Trimnal	2	2	1	5
	25		MF	Nathan Richmond	5	0	0	5
6	11		MF	Brandon Parrish	2	0	2	4
	27		DF	Gael Gibert	2	1	1	4
8	6		DF	Joran Gerbet	3	0	0	3
	7		FW	Isaiah Easley	2	1	0	3
	30		FW	Remi Okunlola	2	1	0	3
11	2		DF	Pape Mar Boye	2	0	0	2
	23		MF	Jackson Worbel	2	0	0	2
	31		DF	Arthur Duquenne	1	0	1	2
14	20		DF	Shawn Smart	0	0	1	1
Opponent Own Goal					1	0	0	1
Total					42	9	9	60

Disciplinary record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name	Regular Season			ACC Tournament			NCAA Tournament			Total
1	2		DF	Pape Mar Boye	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	5	0	0
	3		DF	Adam Lundegard	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0
	20		DF	Shawn Smart	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	1
4	6		MF	Joran Gerbet	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
5	9		MF	Mohamed Seye	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0
	10		MF	Ousmane Sylla	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
	25		MF	Nathan Richmond	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	27		DF	Gael Gibert	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
	33		DF	Arthur Duquenne	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
10	7		FW	Isaiah Easley	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	8		MF	Elton Chifamba	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	11		MF	Brandon Parrish	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0
	17		FW	Tyler Trimnal	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
14	1		GK	Joseph Andema	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	12		DF	Enrique Montana	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	15		FW	Alex Meinhard	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	19		FW	James Kelly	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	20		DF	Shawn Smart	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	23		MF	Jackson Worbel	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	28		DF	Will Cain	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	30		FW	Remi Okunlola	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Team					1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					30	0	1	7	0	0	11	0	0	48	0	1

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Alex Meinhard	Pre-Season Hermann Trophy Watchlist	August 24, 2023	[15]
Ousmane Sylla	Pre-Season All-ACC Team	August 26, 2023	[16]
	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	October 10, 2023	[17]
Ousmane Sylla	All-ACC First Team	November 8, 2023	[18]
Brandon Parrish	All-ACC Second Team
Joran Gerbet	All-ACC Third Team
Pape Mar Boye
Nathan Richmond
Pape Mar Boye	All-ACC Freshman Team
Ousmane Sylla	ACC Tournament MVP	November 12, 2023	[19]
Gael Gerbet	ACC All-Tournament Team
Ousmane Sylla
Joran Gerbet
Alex Meinhard
Ousmane Sylla	NCAA Tournament Offensive MVP	December 11, 223	[20]
Pape Mar Boye	NCAA Tournament Defensive MVP
Ousmane Sylla	Hermann Trophy	January 5, 2024	[21]

2024 MLS Super Draft

Main article: 2024 MLS SuperDraft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position
Brandon Parrish	D.C. United	2	36	MF
Ousmane Sylla	Houston Dynamo	2	55	MF
Nathan Richmond	Charlotte FC	3	70	MF

Source: ^[22]

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
United Soccer [23]	9	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	21	15	10т	14	14	Not released				1 (7)
TopDrawer Soccer [24]	4	10	18	—	23	24	18	15	12	9	14	11	4	3	2	2	1

References

1. Turri, Alex (November 12, 2023). "Clemson wins the 2023 ACC Championship over North Carolina in penalty kicks". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
2. "Parrish and Sylla each score to help Clemson beat Notre Dame for program's 4th men's soccer title". apnews.com. Associated Press. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
3. "Clemson advances to ACC Men's Soccer Final". wspa.com. Nexstar Media. November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
4. @eltonchifamba (December 3, 2023). "I'm excited to announce that I've committed and will be transferring to Syracuse University to continue my athletic and academic career. I want to thank God, Coach Mac, the rest of the coaching staff, and my family. I can't wait to get to work! Go Orange! @CuseMSOC 💪🏾🍊" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. Olorunfemi, Victor (August 17, 2023). "2023 ACC Men's Preview". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
6. "Mathieu Brick". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
7. "Logan Brown". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
8. "Mason Jimenez". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
9. "Matthias Leib". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
10. "Pape Mar Boye". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
11. "2023-24 Men's Soccer Roster". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletics. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
12. "Men's Soccer Staff Directory". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletic Department. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
13. "2023-24 Men's Soccer Schedule". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletics. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
14. "Clemson United Announces 2023 Schedule". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletics. June 15, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
15. "2023 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
16. "Clemson Selected 2023 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
17. "Clemson's Sylla, Syracuse's Wickham Named ACC Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
18. "2023 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
19. "Clemson Wins 2023 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 12, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
20. "Parrish and Sylla each score to help Clemson beat Notre Dame for program's 4th men's soccer title". apnews.com. Associated Press. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
21. Keepfer, Scott (January 5, 2024). "Clemson's Ousmane Sylla wins Hermann Trophy as college soccer player of the year". Greenville News . Retrieved January 9, 2024.
22. "Three Tigers Selected in 2024 MLS SuperDraft". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. December 19, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
23. "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
24. "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.