Oct. 14, 2001
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Purdue women's soccer team fell today Michigan today at Ann Arbor, 1-0. The Boilermakers fall to 7-5-1 (3-3-1), while the Wolverines improve to 8-5-0 (6-2-0). Michigan's victory today broke Purdue's three-game shutout streak and was the first goal the Boilermakers have given up in 333 minutes of play.
"This weekend, we went away and came away with three of the six points that were up for grabs," said Purdue head coach Rob Klatte. "Today, Michigan played well and was dangerous up front, while defending well in the back. I thought that our defensive side also played well today, Chrissy (Creamer) had an awesome game today at center back. Liz (Boldt) also did an excellent job in the goal."
The game started off quickly as Michigan took its first corner at 1:56 that resulted in three shots, all saved by Purdue's Elizabeth Boldt.
Purdue then headed down the field for a few shots of its own, tallying four corners in a row, but all with no result. The Boilermakers did gather their closest chance of the game, however, when sophomore midfielder Jenna Silverman deposited a hard shot from the left side, just wide and off the goal post.
The game continued, a very wet, cold and windy day, with neither side able to net a score in that first half, despite several chances on both ends of the field.
The game finally broke at the 63:42 mark, when the Wolverines tallied a goal off of a left corner kick. Unfortunately, it was an own goal situation, as Purdue accidentally knocked the ball into the net behind Boldt.
"Sometimes, unfortunately, own-goal situations happen, just because you are under so much duress and you face your own goal on those set plays. Today was an unfortunate break, but our question continues to be whether or not we are good enough to produce a positive result under the pressure of a must-win situation.
"It is a shame, that all three of our Big Ten losses have come from goals that were given up on plays that came from set pieces," Klatte said.
The rest of the game went on, as physical as before, but with no Boilermaker scores able to make up the difference in the closing minutes.
The Boilermakers were outshot by the Maize and Blue, 12-7, but they were able to keep the corners total even at six apiece.
In the goal, Boldt, a senior, made her 7th start of the year and takes her record to 3-4-1. She tallied 10 saves in 90 minutes of play.
The Old Gold and Black will return to the field this coming weekend, when they host Iowa at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, and Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Varsity Soccer Complex.
"This weekend is a huge weekend with Iowa on Friday and Illinois on Sunday. Iowa is a team that we haven't been able to figure out the past two years, and this week we'll get back to working on our upcoming games. We have three Big Ten games left and our game against Iowa will be our most important game of the year.
"Everything is still to play for in the Big Ten, the middle of the conference standings are all separated by one point, from fourth place to ninth place. If you want drama, excitement and the results coming down to the final games of the year, welcome to Big Ten Women's Soccer," Klatte said.
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