Oct. 17, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A solid defensive effort, a few lucky bounces and a tremendous game by the goalkeeper enabled the Purdue women's soccer team (7-8-0 overall, 2-7-0 Big Ten) to beat 25th-ranked Illinois 1-0 (9-5-2overall, 3-4-2 Big Ten) on a chilly Sunday afternoon at the Purdue Varsity Soccer Complex. The win was the first for the Boilermakers over a ranked team and snapped their seven match losing streak.
"I think the biggest change was that we didn't give Illinois many golden opportunities to score in our defensive third," Purdue coach Robert Klatte said. "We have been working lately on eliminating the mental mistakes in our own end. Today, I think we did that and we came out with the win."
To the average fan that was not in attendance, but saw the box score for today's game, one would assume that the Illini had won. Illinois recorded 19 shots to just four for Purdue. Boilermaker's goalkeeper Jocelyn Cavalier recorded ten saves, while the Illini keeper made two stops. In the end, though, it was the Old Gold and Black that prevailed for its third shutout of the season.
Purdue scored the game-winner at 59:47 on a goal by sophomore midfielder Rebecca Broering, her fourth score of the season. After winning the ball in the midfield, sophomore Tara McCarthy played lifted a ball over the Illini defense that Broering was able to run onto and shoot past the Illinois keeper.
"Tara played Becky a perfect pass," Klatte said. "She (Becky) trapped the ball into space and under control, was composed and then made a classy finish. It was a good play on both of their parts."
The teams battled to a 0-0 tie in the first half with the Illini holding an 11-2 advantage with shots on goal. Purdue keeper Cavalier was stellar between the posts recording four saves, including two diving saves. The best scoring opportunity in the first 45 minutes came at 5:30 left when Sarah Rowland got behind the defense and blasted a shot that Cavalier made a diving save on.
"Jocelyn had a spectacular game today," Klatte said. "We knew going into today that we would need her to have a good game if we were going to have a chance to beat them. Today, she gave us just that and more."
The Boilermakers will return to action on Friday, October 22, when they travel to Bloomington for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Indiana Hoosiers. On Friday, October 15, Indiana and Illinois battled to a 0-0 tie.
SCORE SUMMARYPU - Rebecca Broering (McCarthy), 59:47
SHOTS: Illinois 19, Purdue 4SHOTS ON GOAL: Illinois 10, Purdue 3CORNER KICKS: Illinois 5, Purdue 1SAVES: Illinois 2, Purdue 10FOULS: Illinois 10, Purdue 21