CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Clemson Tigers found their momentum in the second half behind two goals in a four-minute span courtesy of sophomores Natalie Brooks and Taylor Leib to claim a 3-2 ACC victory on the road at Miami (7-3-1, 2-2 ACC) on Thursday night. Brooks got the equalizer in the 56’, while Leib recorded her game-winning goal just over three minutes later to bump the Tigers to 6-2-2 (2-1 ACC) on the year.
“Good response from us tonight, especially in the second half,” said Head Coach Eddie Radwanski. “Coming down here to play at Miami, it's never an easy place to play. It's one of the more difficult home fields to play at, and Ken’s done a really great job with his team. We are a little disappointed that we conceded those two goals in the first half, but we just go talk about “hey let’s go win the second half” and can we elevate our game a little bit. We made a couple of tiny adjustments, and they ended up making a difference.” For more from Coach Radwanski, click here
Brooks, Leib and Anna Castenfelt clocked goals for the Tigers. In total, Clemson took eight shots, including six on goal, while limiting the Hurricanes to only six total shots. In net, graduate Nona Reason finished with one save in her 90 minutes of effort for her sixth win in 2026.
The Tigers struck first in the 20’ of play off a penalty kick. After sophomore Juju Harris was tripped up inside the box, VAR awarded Clemson a PK attempt that junior Anna Castenfelt lined up to take and found the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage. Miami found its equalizer in the 35’ on a corner kick and claimed the 2-1 lead in the 39’ with a goal taken just outside the 18-yard box. Despite Clemson outshooting the Hurricanes, 4-3, in the opening half, Miami held the advantage through the first 45 minutes.
The momentum swung back in Clemson’s favor as the second half got underway. The Tigers leveled the match at 2-2 in the 56’ behind a goal from Natalie Brooks. After Carla Smalls had a shot cut off by a Hurricane defender, Brooks fired a left-footed shot that rebounded off the leg of Miami’s goalkeeper into the top of the goal.
Four minutes later, Harris got a shot off inside the box that was deflected to Taylor Leib in the middle of the box. Leib got off a one-timer that flew past Miami’s goalkeeper into the bottom right corner and proved to be the game-winning goal in the 3-2 match. Leib has recorded four goals this season, good enough for the second-most on the team, and leads the program with two game-winning goals through Thursday’s match.
