Ben Polk settled an approximately 35-yard pass from Louis Cross with his back to the net, boxing out Tigers defender Patrick Bunk-Andersen. He spun right and curved a left-footed shot from just beyond the penalty area off the left post and in.

Polk jogged to the SU sideline to celebrate, forming a bowl with one hand and pretending to eat out of it with the other as a smile stretched across his face.

Polk was eating up the Clemson defense. He scored two goals, took three shots and helped No. 13 SU (12-5-3, 3-4-1 Atlantic Coast) shock the No. 2 Tigers (15-2-2, 6-1-1), 2-0, to advance to the ACC tournament championship game at No. 9 Notre Dame on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The seventh-seeded Orange beat second-seeded North Carolina in penalty kicks on Sunday and third-seeded Clemson on Wednesday to avenge two games it blew during the regular season. Now, one game stands between the Orange and its first ACC championship.

In the first half, Clemson fired eight shots toward the net, but forced Syracuse goalie Hendrik Hilpert to make only one save — a mishit shot by Kyle Murphy fluttered to Hilpert. The Orange generated only three shots, but multiple chances, including Polk’s highlight-reel goal.

Just 12 minutes into the second half, a Syracuse team that has constantly struggled to score the second goal and put teams away bumped its lead to two on Polk’s team-leading ninth goal of the year.

SU forward Chris Nanco charged up the left side and fired a low shot from just outside the 18-yard box. Clemson goalie Andrew Tarbell made a diving save and a defender tried to clear the ball, but it ricocheted off Noah Rhynhart to Polk, standing alone in the middle of the box.

Syracuse never let off the gas pedal on both sides of the ball. Out of Clemson’s 15 shots and seven corners, Hilpert only had to make one save in the shutout.

Coming into the tournament, SU was winless against ranked opponents, but now has beaten two in a row. It’ll have a shot for three and a trophy on Sunday.

Published on November 11, 2015 at 9:15 pm

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