Kevin Vandervort / All Clemson
A Moment 12 Years in the Making for Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. — Mike Noonan watched proudly as Clemson unveiled its 2021 Men’s Soccer National Championship banner Friday night at Historic Riggs Field.
It was a moment in the making ever since Noonan became the Tigers’ head coach back in 2010, when he vowed to bring Clemson a third national championship to its traditionally rich soccer program.
So, for a few seconds, Noonan took in the moment, then walked over to his team as they stood waiting to take the pitch against No. 13 Indiana and told them, “Let’s go! Let’s go win this.”
“I was worried about Indiana,” he joked following the top-ranked Tigers’ 3-2 victory over Indiana. “Seriously, I was thinking about the game. We have been on a six-month victory tour. Very proud. Proud for Clemson that we have another star on our chest, but I was concerned about Indiana and what’s next, what’s in front of us and worried about my team, right?
“It will be ancient history and it will stay in history forever. We will never forget that, and I am proud and honored to be the coach at Clemson and National Champions in 2021. But this is 2022.”
And 2022 started with 6,359 fans packed into Historic Riggs Field to see their Tigers (1-0) begin defense of their national championship, the program’s first since 1987.
“You are raising a banner. You raise a banner, I know Tigertown will turn up,” Noonan said. “They were fantastic. Not only were they fantastic in the number (of fans), but they were educated. They were loud. They influenced the game. They were fantastic.”
So was his Clemson team.
The Tigers not only beat Indiana (0-1), but they outplayed them. Clemson aggressively attacked the Hoosiers net throughout the night, racking up nine shots on goal and 15 shots overall, including 10 in the second half.
Ousmane Sylla, who played injured throughout most of the Tigers’ national championship run, was healthy and electric in the season opener. The midfielder scored Clemson’s first goal of the season, and then, at the 79th minute, he worked through the Indiana defense and found the back of the net for the game-winner.
Clemson midfielder Ousmane Sylla celebrates after scoring the Tigers' game-winning goal in the 79th minute of their 3-2 victory over No. 13 Indiana Friday at Historic Riggs Field in Clemson.
Kevin Vandervort / All Clemson
“When I came in to start the second half, Coach told me to score the ball and that’s what I was thinking,” Sylla said. “My last thought was to just shoot the ball. I got the angle, and it went in.”
Sylla’s shot broke a 2-2 tie. Then new keeper, Trevor Manion, saved the match with 3:11 to play when he held off a Hoosiers’ rally to record his fourth and final save of the night. It was a fitting end after Manion allowed Indiana’s Samuel Sarver an easy goal when he missed played a ball and Sarver swooped under him to steal it for the match’s first goal at the five-minute mark.
“As big of a story as (Sylla) is, the goalkeeper is, because if a goalkeeper makes one mistake, then you see what happens,” Noonan said. “He made one mistake tonight, right? (Sylla) made more mistakes than that, right? But he scored two goals.
“Trevor did sensational. He pulled off some amazing saves. But the mental toughness to be able to deal with that in front of that big of a crowd at home, in your first real start. Everybody in the crowd was going, ‘Oh, where is George [Marks]? Oh, where is George?' Well, they found out who Trevor was tonight.”
And they got to celebrate the start of a new season with a victory over national power Indiana and the raising of another national championship banner, something Noonan has always wanted for Clemson soccer.