By Derek Brightwell–
In their first season in the conference, the Louisville men’s soccer team lost to Clemson in the ACC Championship match 2-1 in the second overtime period.
The Cards had the advantage for most of the game, after junior Ricardo Velazco put in a header from a cross from sophomore Andrew Brody in the 13th minute. That lead would stand all the way until junior Paul Clowes scored his first goal of the year: the equalizer with two seconds left in the game to extend the game for Clemson’s third straight overtime match.
A Clemson corner kick led to a goal by senior Ara Amirkhanian with 5:17 remaining to give the Tigers the win and the ACC title.
Clemson ended with a 9-5 advantage in shots and a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Cards dominated possession for most of the game, and held the Tigers without a shot for 34 minutes to close out the second half until the equalizer.
With the loss, the 19th ranked Cards drop to 10-7-3 on the year while 14th ranked Clemson improves to 11-6-3. Both teams seem poised to enter the 48 team NCAA Championship, which will be announced at 1 pm on Monday, November 17th.
Photo by Austin Lassell / The Louisville Cardinal
