CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson women’s soccer team (3-0-0, 2-0-0 ACC) defeated the Virginia Cavaliers (1-1-1, 0-1-1 ACC) by a final score of 3-0 at Historic Riggs Field on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers had three different players contribute to the scoresheet, while Hensley Hancuff extended her shutout streak to three-consecutive matches. This is the Tigers’ largest margin of victory against the Cavaliers since a 4-0 victory at Historic Riggs Field in 2001.
“Today’s game was a collective decision by the team to come out to compete and to win,” said Head Coach Eddie Radwanski. “You want to beat a good team and they were a No. 1 team last year – I have great respect for Steve [Swanson] and his program. We say the best is yet to come for Clemson and this is what we’re doing.”
The Tigers’ opening goal came off of a beautifully orchestrated counterattack in the 4th minute of play, as Mariana Speckmaier dribbled the ball down the touchline and handed it off to Maliah Morris who crossed the ball right on to Caroline Conti’s head. Conti’s goal was her third of the season and made her the Tigers’ leading scorer.
In the second half, Clemson displayed their dominance on the ball by adding two goals and controlling the pace of play for the entirety of the half. In the 58th minute, Courtney Jones put away her first goal of the season to extend the Tigers’ lead. In the closing minutes of the match, Megan Bornkamp converted from the penalty spot for the Tigers’ final goal of the match and her second of the season.
Hancuff logged another shutout in net, making a season-high five saves against the Cavaliers. Hancuff’s save of the match came in the 54th minute, as the junior was forced to lay out to stop a close-range header from Virginia’s Diana Ordonez.
“We feel like we have great goalkeepers overall,” said Radwanski. “Hensley is playing like a pro – she has her head down and is working at getting better and she’s of the growth mindset. Having a presence like her back there is comforting.”
Following today’s match, Clemson has scored seven of their 10 goals this season in the second half of their matches. Morris’ service to Conti for the Tigers’ opening goal was her second assist of the season, a category which she now leads the team in.
In his 10 seasons at Clemson, Radwanski is now 22-0 when his team scores three or four goals in a match and improved to 90-6-4 when his Tigers score first.
Clemson will now travel to North Carolina (Oct. 1) and Duke (Oct. 4) before returning to Historic Riggs Field to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Oct. 11 at 3:30 p.m. For all of the most up-to-date information regarding Clemson Women’s Soccer, be sure to reference clemsontigers.com.
