What was a fairy tale season of firsts for the men's soccer team ended cruelly when Clemson clinched a 2-1 sudden-death overtime victory in the third round of the NCAA tournament at Spry Stadium Nov. 30.

Clemson's Brett Branan rose above three defenders to head a corner kick into the Deacon net and lift the Tigers to victory with just 32 seconds left in the first of two possible 10-minute overtime periods.

"That's athletics," Head Coach Jay Vidovich said, "And soccer is probably the cruelest sport of all."

The goal sends Clemson to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the fourth time in the last six years. The Tigers will face Stanford in the next round Dec. 7, at Stanford.

The Deacons, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, reached the round of 16 by defeating Old Dominion 1-0 off junior Jeremiah White's goal with 2:08 remaining in the match Nov. 27.

They finished their season 15-2-4, setting a new school record for wins in a season. They were also the first team in program history to be ranked No. 1 nationally and the first to win an ACC regular season title.

"We created enough offensive opportunities, but we came up a little short," Vidovich said. "We knew (finishing) was key, and we came up short there."

The Tigers scored the first goal of the game in the sixth minute following a free kick. The ball bounced off a Deacon defender and landed 10 yards out. Branan was there for the rebound, and he knocked the ball into the net.

"I told our guys before the tournament that someone would step up and score who hasn't done it all year, and sure enough (Branan) did," Clemson Coach Trevor Adair said.

The Deacons had two chances to tie the game following Branan's goal. Junior Vicente Bastidas broke through the Tiger defense in the 20th minute for an open shot on goal, but goalkeeper Doug Warren deflected the shot out of bounds for a corner kick.Five minutes later, Tiger defender Fabio Tambosi cleared a header by sophomore Ryan Caugherty off the goal line at the right post.

The Deacons finally equalized the game just before halftime after a Clemson defender fouled freshman Justin Moose outside the left corner of the 18. Sophomore Amir Lowery headed the subsequent free kick by junior Brian Carroll into the back of the net with 24 seconds left on the clock.

The Deacons forced Clemson's four-man back line to remain on the defensive in the second half. Moose had two great opportunities to break the tie.

One shot in the 49th minute beat the keeper, but clanged off the post out of bounds. In the 60th minute, Moose beat a defender with one move at the top of the 18 then ripped a low shot that flew just inches wide of the left post.

The Deacons outshot Clemson in both halves and did so again in the overtime period. The best of those opportunities came with just two minutes left in the first overtime period.

Bastidas played the ball to Carroll on the right side. Carroll ran onto the ball behind the Tiger defense just as Warren came out to shut down his angle.

Carroll shot past Warren at the near post but just missed the goal and caught the outside net instead.

The shot was the last of the Deacons' 16 in the game. The Tigers only had eight.

The Deacs also held a 9-4 advantage on corner kicks.

"We got a little bit of a break tonight because they had more of the possession than we did," Adair said. "But that's what it takes though -- a little bit of luck."

Clemson had played seven overtimes already during the season, and Adair credited that experience as key to their victory.

"We didn't want to go to penalty kicks," Adair said. "We wanted it settled on the field, and I am glad it was."