2023_Clemson_Tigers_women's_soccer_team
2023 Clemson Tigers women's soccer team
American college soccer season
The 2023 Clemson Tigers women's soccer team represented Clemson University during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Tigers were led by head coach Ed Radwanski, in his thirteenth season. The Tigers home games were played at Riggs Field. This was the team's 30th season playing organized soccer, and all of those seasons were played in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tigers started the season well, with a tie of twelfth-ranked rival South Carolina. They wouldn't allow a goal until August 31 and won their next six non-conference games. Those games inluded two wins over Power 5 opponents and one against seventh-ranked Arkansas. They would finish their non-conference schedule with a draw against Georgia. ACC play began with a loss against fourth-ranked Florida State. However, the Tigers won their next three games before drawing against Virginia. After the draw, the Tigers rattled off four straight conference wins including wins over ranked Duke and Pittsburgh. They finished the ACC season with a loss to eleventh ranked Notre Dame.
The Tigers finished the season 7–2–1 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated Wake Forest in the First Round. In the Second Round, they avenged a regular season loss to Notre Dame, by defeating them 3–2. They faced off against Florida State in the final, but could not avenge a regular season loss, as they lost 2–1. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament where they were a one-seed in the Clemson Bracket and earned home field advantage until the College Cup. The defeated Radford in the First Round, Columbia in the Second Round, and faced off against Georgia again in the Round of 16. Just as in the regular season, the game ended 1–1 and went to penalties. Clemson advanced 5–3 and faced second-seed Penn State. The Tigers won 2–1 and advanced to their first College Cup in program history.[1] In the College Cup, Clemson faced Florida State for the third time this season, and lost again 2–0, to end their season. Their final record was 18–4–4.
Halle Mackiewicz was named ACC Goalkeeper of the Year and set a school record with thirteen shut-outs at the time of the award.[2] Mackiewicz would add one more during the NCAA Tournament to bring her total to fourteen for the season. Clemson also played three players on the All-ACC First Team, three on the Third Team, and three on the All-Freshman team. Their seven conference wins were the most since 2016 and were the highest total in program history, tied with 2016 and 2015. They finished as runners up in the ACC Tournament for the fourth time in program history, and first time since 2002. Their eighteen wins were the second best in program history, second only to the 19 wins in 2000. Their NCAA tournament qualification extended their streak of consecutive qualifications to ten.
