CLEMSON, S.C. — The No. 1 Clemson Tigers are hitting the road for the first time this season to Columbia, S.C. to take on South Carolina on Friday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m as part of the Palmetto Series presented by S.C. Education Lottery. The match will stream on ESPN+.
The Tigers enter the match as the top-ranked team in the nation and look to build upon their 2-0-0 start. Most recently, Clemson earned a 2-0 victory at home over USC Upstate on Monday night.
Clemson is 32-17-1 all-time against South Carolina, with a 12-9-1 record when playing in Columbia. Friday night’s match will mark the Tigers’ 51st encounter with the Gamecocks in program history.
The Tigers are currently on an eight-game win streak against the Gamecocks and have held them scoreless since August 2019, when Clemson beat South Carolina 4-1. A win on Friday night would extend Clemson’s win streak over South Carolina to nine matches, tying Clemson’s longest ever winning streak over its rival (1978-85).
The Tigers have won the last three matches in Columbia and have not suffered a loss at the hands of South Carolina since 2014 where Clemson lost 2-1 in double overtime in Columbia.
Tigers’ standout Ousmane Sylla scored Clemson’s equalizing and game-winning goals in its victory over Indiana and assisted Tim Ströbeck’s goal against USC Upstate. In doing so, he collected multiple player of the week honors, including ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week and CollegeSoccerNews.com’s National Player of the Week.
South Carolina comes into Friday’s home opener with a 0-1-1 record after suffering a 2-4 loss at Dayton this past Sunday and opening up the season with a 1-1 draw at Ohio State. The Gamecocks enter their second season under head coach Tony Annan with 10 returners and 18 newcomers, comprised of five transfers and 13 true freshmen. The Gamecocks return all three of their All-Conference USA honorees from 2021 in Peter Clement, Logan Frost, and Harrison Myring.
