The Tiger

Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: unknown

Entering his 14th season as head coach at Clemson, Trevor Adair faces a tough challenge this fall. Adair's 167-82-24 record as the Tigers' head coach is a testament to his teams' potential to rise above adversity. But the Tigers return just six starters from last year's squad that finished the season with a 7-11-1 (2-6 ACC) record. To make matters more difficult, Clemson is set to face six of the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America preseason top 25.
Clemson comes into the season having lost their leading scorer Tate Parrish who accumulated six goals and six assists in the 2007 campaign. Other experienced players, Mark Buchholz, David Bell, Danny Poe and Havird Usry, were also lost. The four Tigers started a total of 76 games last season.
Despite the losses, the Tigers return six starters including sophomore midfielder Tommy Drake who was second behind Parrish in points last season. Along with Drake, sophomore midfielder Eric Cava returns to the lineup. Cava posted five assists in 18 games played last season.
The Tigers also bring back Junior defenders David Newton and Greg Eckhardt and Seniors Bryson Moore and Michael Brooks. Joseph Bendik returns in the goal after starting all 19 games last season and recording 93 saves.
Nine freshmen are on the roster for the Tigers this season. According to collegesoccernews.com, Clemson's 2008 recruiting class ranks 28th nationally and is "a solid class with competitive club and ODP experience." Georgia natives Connor Barbaree, Nick Burton and Riley Sumpter make up half of the class with Francklin Blaise, Bo Godwin and Mackenzie Ward rounding it out.
The youth on this Clemson team will be a big question as the Tigers will face one of the most difficult schedules in the nation.
The Tigers will travel to defending National Champion, and preseason No. 1, Wake Forest in September and third-ranked Boston College in October. Maryland, Virginia Tech and North Carolina will visit Riggs Field in Clemson and are ranked No. 8, 10 and 24, respectively.
Outside of the conference, Clemson will face No. 25 Furman in Greenville and South Carolina in Columbia.
The team scrimmaged against the Winthrop Eagles this past week and battled to a 0-0 tie. Coach Adair saw the exhibition as a good tune-up for the regular season.
"This was a good dress rehearsal before the season starts," said Adair. "Winthrop is a very good team and I was pleased with the way we played."
Earlier in the week, Clemson defeated Chile's U17 national team 1-0 on a goal by Tommy Drake midway through the second half, but they were shut out by Alabama-Birmingham 3-0 in an exhibition in Clemson.
The Tigers will start the regular season Friday night against in-state rival South Carolina in Columbia at 7:30 p.m. Later in the week, Clemson will return to the friendly confines of Riggs field to host Georgia State on September 1 and Georgia Southern on September 5.

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