WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's soccer team improved its record to 4-1-0 with a 4-2 victory over University of Central Florida in the first-annual Boilermaker Challenge Cup on Friday afternoon at the brand new Varsity Soccer Complex. With the loss, UCF drops to 3-2 on the season. Last y ear in Orlando, Fla., UCF defeated Purdue 2-1.
"We are definitely making progress in the right direction," Purdue coach Rob Klatte said. "There is definitely room for improvement, but I thought we played well and strung together some passes and created some good scoring opportunities for ourselves."
Sophomore forward Tara McCarthy netted the first two goals for the Boilers, tying the record for most goals scored in a game. Fellow sophomore Kate Queen established the record on Monday, Sept. 6th versus DePaul. The sophomore tandem now lead the Boilers with three goals apiece. The win was the f ourth of the season for the Old Gold and Black, as well as the four-consecutive home victory dating back to last season. In 1998. Purdue totaled just four wins in its first season as a varsity squad.
The first goal came within the first minutes of the match, as sophomore defender Tricia Henderson settled the ball in the box and fired a shot which was deflected off a UCF defender. McCarthy was position perfectly to drill the ball in the back of the net with her head to earn her second tally of the season.
McCarthy extended the lead to 2-0 when she scored off a ball assisted by freshman Jessica Baumhoff. The goal was her third of the year, tying for the team lead. Junior forward Sara Field notched a solid first goal of the year off a brilliant pass by Queen to push Purdue's lead to 3-0 at the half.
UCF retaliated by coming out strong in the second half of play. Maria Ceclia Guillan scored an impressive goal from 20 yards out that left Purdue goalkeeper Jocelyn Cavalier no chance of saving a shutout.
The Boilers put the game out of reach when St. John, aided by an assist from sophomore defender Katie Redmond, finessed a shot by the UCF goalkeeper with under ten minutes remaining.
Once again the Golden Knights fought hard to keep in the game as forward Nicole Cieslak scored a far-post goal over the reach of Cavalier to bring the score back within two. Several minutes later, UCF gained another chance when a rocket of a shot hit the crossbar that would have brought the score within one.
"With the start of the Big Ten season right around the corner, we need to continue to work hard, play within ourselves, keep our confidence high and eliminate the mental mistakes," Klatte said. "I feel if we can do that we will be a good soccer team."
The Boilers will now face Delaware (1-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the next round of the Boilermaker Challenge Cup. In the other contest, Delaware lost 1-0 to Wright State (2-4) in a sudden-death overtime game in the opener of the tournament. Wright State will face UCF at 11 a.m. Sunday for its fina l game of the tournament.