Tigers on top: Clemson men’s soccer wins 2023 national championship

Clemson is the best team in college men’s soccer.

Again.

The Tigers defeated Notre Dame, 2-1, on Monday night in Louisville, Kentucky, to win their second NCAA national championship in three seasons.

Senior midfielder and team captain Brandon Parrish scored an unassisted goal in the 27th minute at Lynn Family Stadium, and senior All-American Ousmane Sylla added a goal of his own in the 70th minute, assisted by senior Alex Meinhard.

That veteran-heavy run of scoring led Clemson its fourth all-time national championship in men’s soccer. The Tigers also won it all in 1984, 1987 and 2021.

After stopping a number of near goals, the Tigers did surrender an 89th minute penalty kick to Notre Dame’s Paddy Burns after a handball. But the Fighting Irish didn’t get another shot on goal in the final minute. From there, a field storm ensued.

With the win, coach Mike Noonan becomes the third coach in Clemson athletics history to win multiple team national titles, joining the late, great men’s soccer coach Dr. I.M. Ibrahim and current football coach Dabo Swinney.

Clemson has also claimed its eighth all-time team national championship. The new list: men’s soccer with four (1984, 1987, 2021, 2023), football with three (1981, 2016, 2018) and men’s golf with one (2003).

The Tigers’ triumph came after they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and started off the 2023 season 0-1-1, with a home loss to Central Florida and draw with UNC Wilmington.

“Oncr we went through the adversity that we went through ... everybody say it’s a coaching cliche, but it’s not cliche, it’s true: Adversity makes you stronger,” Noonan said. “And that strength came from the tough times. I told them before the game tonight, I said, ‘This is a Clint Eastwood movie, fellas. 90 minutes to Nirvana.’ And we are now in Nirvana.”

The Tigers were making their 10th all-time appearance in the College Cup (the Final Four of collegiate soccer) and sixth all-time national championship appearance.

The 89th minute penalty kick they surrendered Monday was also the only goal they’ve allowed all tournament and deprived them of becoming only the sixth team in NCAA history to win a championship while surrendering zero tournament goals. Sophomore goalie Joseph Andema had three saves in the win.

He was the leader of a strong defensive effort that kept Notre Dame, which beat Clemson in the regular season and was the No. 2 national seed, scoreless until the final minute despite outshooting Clemson 15-9 and 9-5 in an exciting second period.

Clemson president Jim Clements and athletic director Graham Neff were on site for the win, played in a primetime slot on ESPNU in front of a crowd of 4,449 in Louisville. The Tigers, per the school, became one of only seven schools nationally with four or more men’s soccer national championships and one of only three to win two or more championships in a three-year period since 2000.

“The expectations for Clemson are high,” said Noonan, Clemson’s coach since 2010. “I knew that coming in. I grew up when Coach Ib was winning national championships, right? It was always a program that you looked at and always wanted to be a part of. And when I got the opportunity, it didn’t take me long.”

The Tigers, who finished 15-3-5 and and earned the No. 9 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, also won the ACC championship earlier this season. Clemson is the first ACC school to sweep the conference and national titles in a single season since 2011 North Carolina and eighth all-time.

“It means everything ... the coaching staff, they brought me into an amazing program,” Parrish said. “They flipped my life upside down and made me not only a better player but a better person and Clemson, South Carolina, is a big part of that. I’d like to thank all the fans that have always been behind us ... I promise you we felt your presence, and we appreciate it.”