BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Campbell meets No. 25 Clemson in its first road game of the season Sunday. Kickoff from historic Riggs Field is set for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACCNX.
LAST TIME OUT: Campbell battled Mercer to a 1-1 draw in its season opener Thursday night. Jackie Richards headed in the opening goal in the 29th minute, assisted by Elyssa Nowowieski and Reagan Baiotto. Mercer answered in the final minute of the first half, evening the score just before halftime.The Bears held a 14-12 advantage in shots, including an 8-2 edge in the second half, but the Camels finished with a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Richards led all players with six shots overall including putting four on goal.
SERIES HISTORY: Campbell meets Clemson for the first time in program history although Clemson has made the trip to Buies Creek, N.C. before. The Tigers played games against Rutgers and UCLA at Eakes Athletics Complex in 2021 as Campbell served as seven host sites for the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers won two games to advance to the NCAA quarterfinal in Cary, N.C. where they ultimately fell to Santa Clara.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Clemson is coming off a 12-7-1 campaign and eighth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. The Tigers return 85 percent of their total points from a season ago headlined by Megan Bornkamp who scored 10 goals and had 10 assists. Clemson is led by veteran head coach Eddie Radwanski in his 12th season with the Tigers.
WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE: The Fighting Camels return nine starters and 70% of its seventh-ranked scoring offense from last season. Campbell welcomes back four of its top five point scorers from 2021 including Jessica Donald (9 goals, 8 assists), Jackie Richards (7 goals, 7 assists), Elyssa Nowowieski (6 goals, 3 assists) and Reagan Baiotto (5 goals, 4 assists). Last season's backline, which helped earned five shutouts, of Delaney Baumbick, Cazzi Norgren, Laney Peabody and Mary Tierney all return as well. Overall more than half of the team is made up of upperclassmen including 12 seniors and four juniors.
PRESEASON HONORS: Jessica Donald and Delaney Baumbick both earned Big South preseason honors after being named the conference's offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively. A two-time All-South region and Big South first team selection, Donald finished second among Big South leaders with a career-high 26 points (9 goals, 8 assists) in 18 games in 2021. Baumbick, a Big South second team selection in 2019 and all-tournament team honoree in 2020-21, started in 17 games last season. Her 1,534 minutes ranked fourth-most on the team as she helped the backline to five shutouts and the third-fewest goals (22) in the Big South last year.
BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL: 1. Campbell (7 first-place votes) - 97 points... 2. High Point (3) - 90... 3. Radford - 79... 4. Longwood - 72... 5. Gardner-Webb - 54... 6. Charleston Southern - 53... 7. UNC Asheville - 40... 8. Winthrop - 33... 9. USC Upstate - 20... 10. Presbyterian - 12
HEAD COACH JEFF GROSS (UMBC '93) is in his first season at Campbell. Gross spent the last eight seasons, including the last two as associate head coach, on the staff at UNC Greensboro. While at UNCG, Gross helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back Southern Conference championships and NCAA College Cup appearances in 2017 and 2018. Gross takes over a program that is coming off consecutive trips to the Big South Conference championship game as well as an appearance in the 2020-21 NCAA tournament.
IN THE '21 NATIONAL RANKS: Campbell ended the 2021 season ranked in the top-25 nationally in eight different attacking statistical categories:
- No. 3 - Assists per game - 3.06
- No. 4 - Points per game - 8.61
- No. 7 - Scoring offense - 2.78
- No. 11 - Total assists - 55
- No. 14 - Corner kicks per game - 7.11
- No. 16 - Total points - 155
- No. 20 - Total goals - 50
- No. 25 - Shots on goal per game - 8.28
BIG EAST IMPACT TRANSFERS: Campbell's transfers from the Big East Conference - Mary Tierney (DePaul) and Jackie Richards (Xavier) - made significant impacts in their first season with Campbell in 2021. Tierney helped maintain the CU backline and ranked second on the team with 1595 minutes played while Richards netted seven goals and seven assists last year.
2021 BIG SOUTH REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS: Campbell enters the 2022 season as the reigning Big South regular season champions. CU posted a record of 9-1 during the conference regular season, claiming its first conference regular season crown since winning the 2004 Atlantic Sun trophy. Campbell outscored conference opponents 36-9 last year. The Camels finished as runner-up in the Big South tournament, falling to High Point in the tourney final.
NEWCOMERS IN THE CREEK: Campbell welcomes eight newcomers to its roster in 2022. Joining the CU program are freshmen Sydney Alexander, Elise Holcey, Lauren Koczenasz, Fallon Anderson, Natalie Jamison, Klara Karlsdottir, Cora Taylor and Sierra Vance.
