"I think we were very disappointed to have given away the tying goal with only three minutes left to play," said Purdue head coach Rob Klatte. "It just shows that you have to play the full 90 minutes, and we didn't focus and do what we needed to do for those last couple of minutes.
"Overall, I thought our back line played very well. With the way they had been playing, I really would have fancied a finish by us, but Ohio State played well. They were dangerous the whole game, they combined well, and they put the pressure on us. They got the goals when they needed to and that won them the game."
After a scoreless first half in which Purdue had several excellent scoring opportunites, the Boilermakers got on the board at the 56:40 mark on an unassisted goal by freshman Kim Comisar, her second of the season. Purdue kept up the offensive pressure and had four corner kicks in a span of just over two minutes, but the Boilemakers couldn't capitalize.
Just when it appeared that the Buckeyes were going to be sent home, Grubb scored an unassisted goal with only 3:07 left in regulation to provide the game-tying goal and, more importantly, momemtum heading into overtime.
In overtime, the Buckeyes wasted no time as Lanham pushed the ball past Purdue goalie Elizabeth Boldt to advance the Buckeyes into Friday's semifinals where they will take on top-seeded Penn State at 1 p.m. on the East Field. Penn State was a 3-0 winner over Northwestern on Thursday. Ohio State beat Penn State earlier this season 2-1 to snap the Nittany Lions 29-game unbeaten streak in the Big Ten.
Purdue fell to 10-6-3, and Ohio State is now 10-8-1 with wins in six of its last eight games. The Boilermakers will look to return to action when the NCAA Tournament bids are announced on Sunday, Nov. 11, for possible post-season play.