Clemson vs. North Carolina Match Highlights | 2026 ACC Men's Soccer

And this is the first year we have that, and I think there's a few tweaks that we're going to see in future years. One of the odd things about it right now, Dean, is that if you are successful with a video challenge, you still lose that challenge. I think we might eventually come to a time, the competition committee will decide that if your challenge is successful, you get to keep that one. I don't know how I feel about that. Give me a little chance to process it. I will say, in the Duke-Virginia Tech game last night, I could tell there was a directive to the officials to hurry up and get over to the video board, and then hurry up and make their decision, and it was really well executed. Yeah, and you're touching on the one thing that of course is the concern about video review, which is that it can slow down the game. Nobody wants that. We want to find the right balance of getting everything right and keeping the game moving along. Speaking of that, this game off to a really good pace, and that's kind of normal when you face Clemson, and then North Carolina also. I mean, they play the beautiful game they always have with Carlos Samuano. Yeah, they are stingy defensively, but they like to play. Clemson loves to play, and I think because of that, we'll see a good pace in this game. Absolutely. The ball is going to stay on the floor a lot. There will be a lot of connections and passing and trying to open space by moving the ball quickly. Carson plays it back to Berge. What a story Berge is. He sat forever, and then last year gets his opportunity, gets in the game, scores a wonder goal, a golazo, and pretty much has not left that position. At a time when a lot of players, if they're not playing, they'll leave. He stayed with it, and it paid off, far stick, and what a perfect finish. A beautiful pass, and then the finish for Clemson in style. Bakken, the senior transfer from Dayton, has made it Clemson 1-0. What a goal, Dean. This is how it happens for Clemson. The ball down the right flank, a fantastic ball in, and then this wonderful header back the way it came. You love attacking players who do that. Alan Rutkowski, no chance at all. He's trying to move from his left to his right with the cross. That header planted firmly back behind him. Tremendous goal. In the Premier League, and the average is around 70%. Great work defensively to win it back for Clemson. Unselfish! Gian has it saved by Rutkowski, the redshirt freshman in goal. Rutgers with a big win over Ohio State. Ohio State was up to number 3 in the country. Dean, when we spoke with Coach Nagala about Yoshi Scheld, he raved at how versatile he is. They play him as a 9, they want him scoring goals, but he sees himself almost as a 10, an attacking midfielder who can create goals. That kind of versatility from your frontline players is invaluable. Boy, North Carolina picks Clemson's pocket, now Clemson picks North Carolina's pocket. They're running downhill, chance for a shot, and another big save is Rutkowski for the same player that came in for them. A couple more players, though, going to work their way in, though, for Coach Noonan, as it'll be number 24, Mateo Sakrias, will come in. Clemson with 18 international players, making Justin and me dig a little deeper here on their pronunciation. I want to thank their SID for giving us double time in the booth before this one, where Teal was hoping to turn on it. A couple high volleys, and they play on here. Volleys that miss, though, Justin. But again, Dean, just these last four to six minutes, better from Carolina in the attacking third. That could be a card. Yeah, Max Fischer pleading his case there, but I'm not sure he has an argument. Yeah, he's going to get a card. Max Fischer. This has probably been the story of this first half for me. North Carolina squares it, good ball, Shelb, great move, Shelb, yes! The moment it got to Yoshi Shelb's feet, just there we see the stop-start move, the change of pace absolutely froze the Clemson defenders, and that's a really good finish through the goalkeeper's legs. You can see how frustrated he is, but you really can't blame a goalkeeper for that kind of finish. It's shot so hard, so fast, so low. Another stoppage here, perhaps another challenge. It looked like Coach Samoano asked for it. So this is where, again, well, actually Samoano's sitting down on the challenge, so not really talking to his team. Now, Coach Noonan is going to talk to his team here a little bit, as it will be a red card, which is one of the reasons the challenge was created, and Christian Scott, a freshman from London. So they basically kind of groundhog day as they put two minutes back on, and North Carolina, big-time save there from Janjic. Otherwise, they would have had an immediate payoff with the man advantage, as Janjic, Serbian goalkeeper. The dynamic has changed so much in the last 15 minutes with the Carolina equalizer, and now the red card, and you see a Clemson team who is playing so confident with so much possession and territorial advantages. A lot of that is now out the window, and we're on to plan B. Tar Heels go short here with 3.30 remaining in the first half, 1-1. Bakken from Okunlola in minute 8, answered by Shelb in minute 36, and then a red card in minute 37 to Scott, and that's where we stay in 1-1. Tar Heels with a player advantage, and yet Kowski still has to be alert. Yeah, you really love to see that from Clemson. Still committed to getting forward, trying to find a go-ahead goal in this game despite playing 10th. Kind of a Captain Obvious comment, but there's just something about a Mike Noonan coached team, and then the athletes that he puts out there, that international flair, that if there ever was a team that could handle the sweat of playing a player down and make it look easier than it is, I feel like Mike Noonan's team can do it. Yeah, and I'd be willing to bet he has actually prepared them for this moment. They would have talked about it and possibly even trained to shape playing with 10, and of course we know about that record when scoring first. He's got the kind of players who want to fight through situations like that and still get a result. Lockerman, Lockerman, with some swerve on it. Even if they have the ball and have to play out of it, the closer you're getting to what would, at this point, be a really valuable point on the road. Evans to Paul, one of the pivot players who earned that whistle. This is a loose ball. Big time save by Janjic. Duquesne putting pressure on. The two subs here on this left side, Duquesne and Asante. Duquesne, another good ball. Whistle called against Evans to Paul, the senior. And these moments are precious for Clemson. We're down to 30 minutes. You get a free kick in the Carolina half. You can get your numbers forward. You can just take a break from defending. Duquesne, Bakken, squares it. Dauda, may crank, he does. Oh, wow, makes it 2-1 Clemson. Dean, you cannot hit a ball better than that. It can't be done. This is an absolute bomb. Woo, smoke. You've got that much space as a player. You can touch the ball forward and run onto it. Yeah, it's very stressful, very tense. Zellifrow, another good ball. Berge tries to ride the bike. Doesn't hit it. And unlucky, unlucky as that was Jace Donawa into the game now, the first-year player out of Bermuda. Still battling. You feel like North Carolina's got that equalizer. They'll earn a free kick. A card will come out. But it will be a yellow. So a yellow given to Xander Sevien. And remember, he got that yellow earlier, so now he's out of the game. And we are going to have a video review. Turning with it is Shelb. Set back in by Lockerman. Lobis. Zellifrow. Zellifrow, so close. Definitely got a hand to this. Using the defender to bend it around. Both hands to him. Really good goalkeeping. They go short this time. You asked for something different. Out wide to Bertil. Zellifrow. Shot. Cranked there by Donawa. Zellifrow. What a tackle. Big time tackle from Mane. Getting his first start of the season. The sophomore from Senegal. Here's another one. Clemson now. Berge steps in there. Wow. What a job by Mike Noonan's team. They end up winning the game. Down two men. Your final score, Clemson two, North Carolina one. Your takeaway, Justin Bryant. The clock's going to keep on rolling, too. Oh, yeah.