CLEMSON — On a gloomy Sunday afternoon at Conklin Field, with fans dressed appropriately for the program’s pink game, No. 11 Clemson earned a much-needed conference victory, defeating No. 6 Notre Dame, 13-9.

The win marks Clemson’s first ACC victory of the season and snaps a three-game losing streak for the Tigers.

Entering the matchup, Clemson sat at 0-3 in the ACC, while the Fighting Irish came in at 2-1. The win also improves Clemson’s record against Notre Dame to 2-3 in the four-year history of Clemson’s program.

Junior attacker Regan Byrne reached two career milestones during the game. Byrne recorded her 75th career point with nine minutes remaining in the second quarter and also added two goals, which brought her career total to 70 goals.

She also scored five goals for the Tigers, which is her season high and one away from tying her career high.

Kayla MacLeod also completed her own milestone on Sunday with her 100th career point. The junior attacker is a team captain and has achieved an All-ACC nod last season.

The freshman class continued to prove how pivotal their play is for this team Sunday. Freshman attacker Aubrie Eisfield helped set the tone early for the Tigers, scoring the first two goals of the game.

Eisfield finished with two goals, bringing her season total to 15.

Another freshman standout, Alexa Spallina, contributed four assists and scored one goal. Goalie Tessa DeLuca made her fourth start of the season, anchoring Clemson’s defense in front of the goal.

Notre Dame struck first with 12:09 remaining in the first quarter, capitalizing after Clemson was called for a green card to take an early 1-0 lead.

Clemson responded quickly. A Notre Dame foul led to a free-position opportunity for the Tigers, allowing Clemson to tie the game 1-1 with 10:42 left in the quarter.

The Fighting Irish regained the lead moments later, but Eisfield answered with her second goal of the afternoon, evening out the score once again.

Clemson (4-4, 1-3 ACC) built momentum behind playmaking from Spallina, who recorded two assists on back-to-back Clemson goals, giving the Tigers a brief two-goal advantage. Notre Dame responded with two goals of its own to tie the game at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was slow on both sides offensively, but Clemson managed to outscore Notre Dame 3-1 in the quarter, with Byrne responsible for two of the Tigers’ goals. Two of Clemson’s goals came within a minute of each other late in the quarter. 

The Tigers keep the momentum going to start the third quarter with three unanswered goals, including Spallinas’s first score of the game to put the Tigers up 10-5. Notre Dame ended their five-point scoring drought with a free position shot by Angie Conley to cut the Tigers’ lead to four. 

Clemson and Notre Dame added one more score each to end the third quarter, including a goal from Byrne and Brooke Goldstein.

Notre Dame struck first in the fourth quarter with Madison Rassas scoring her second goal. But the Tigers keep pushing offensively with a goal from McLeod to make the score 12-8. Goldstein scored for the second time, putting the Tigers up by five.

Notre Dame’s Kate Timarky scored for the third time of the game to cut Clemson’s lead down to four with 2:02 remaining in the game.

UP NEXT

Clemson travels to Charlottesville, Va., for its next ACC matchup against the No. 5 Cavaliers. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m., next Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.