NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL
NOVEMBER 25, 2023
CLEMSON, SC • HISTORIC RIGGS FIELD
FINAL SCORE: (1) Clemson 2, (2) Penn State 1
RECORDS: Clemson 18-3-4; Penn State: 16-3-4
CLEMSON GOALS: Makenna Morris (69th minute), Caroline Conti (84th minute)
CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson women’s soccer advanced to the College Cup for the first time in its history with a 2-1 win over second-seeded Penn State (16-3-4) in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal at Historic Riggs Field. The Tigers (18-3-4) scored a pair of goals in the second half, including a screamer from Makenna Morris in the 69th minute and the game-winner from Caroline Conti in the 84th minute. Conti was set up on a beautiful feed from near midfield by Harper White.
The team joined the 2004 and 2005 Women’s Tennis teams as the only women’s programs to advance to a national semifinal in school history.
Clemson, the top seed in its bracket, takes on another top-seed, Florida State in the semifinal in Cary, N.C. on Friday. The game sets up a rematch of the ACC Championship game, which Florida State won, 2-1.
“Thank you to this incredible Clemson community crowd that came out today,” said Head Coach Eddie Radwanski, who has led his teams to ten consecutive NCAA Tournaments. “I’m so grateful for that. It gave us the energy to finish out this game. At the end of the day, you’re looking at two good teams. Penn State’s a good team. Either team is capable of beting the other, but this is a special group of Tigers here, but they find a way to be resilient to get the result. We talked about – how do we advance ‘what are you willing to do, what are you willing to take to get there to make this happen?’ and they did that. This group has earned the right to go to the College Cup. We are a resilient group – they have a never-say-die attitude. It was something they are capable of doing. Now we’ve checked that box of going to the college cup, and we’re in a role where we can play for a national championship.”
Penn State was able to find the first good scoring chance in the 11th minute, but Mackiewicz made a sliding save on a Payton Linnehan run to keep the game scoreless. Two minutes later, Bornkamp put Clemson’s first shot on goal on a 30-yard strike, but Penn State keeper Katherine Asman fielded the ball cleanly on a short hop to end the threat.
Mackiewicz was tested again in the 18th minute as Linnehan had a free look that she tried to put in the bottom left corner, but…