Oct. 22, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 17 Purdue and Iowa played to a scoreless double overtime tie Sunday in Iowa City. The draw brought the Boilermakers' record to 12-4-3 and 5-3-1 in the Big Ten heading into their regular season finale with Indiana Friday afternoon.
The Golden Boot Match (4 p.m. at the Varsity Soccer Complex) will be for the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. However, if the Boilermakers and Hoosiers tie, Michigan could leapfrog both teams with a win at Michigan State.
"It was a disappointing weekend, but I felt we got some good performances, and we'll take another swing at it Friday," said head coach Rob Klatte. "We got a point. We wanted three but its better than a loss."
For Iowa, the tie brought their overall record to 6-10-2 and 1-7-1 in the Big Ten. After starting the conference season at 0-7, Iowa upset Indiana 1-0 on Friday, then tied Purdue, to register the team's first unbeaten Big Ten weekend since Oct. 4 - 6, 2002 when it beat Minnesota and tied Minnesota.
Iowa, the perrenial doormat of the Big Ten, has not lost to Purdue since 2004, when it dropped a 1-0 decision at the Varsity Soccer Complex. The last time Purdue played in Iowa City was in 2003, posting a 4-1 victory.
Sunday, Purdue was presented with plenty of opportunities to crack the scoreboard, including 11 corner kicks and 14 shots, five of which were on goal.
Iowa was limited to seven shots, putting five of them on target, and had five corners.
"Iowa was super organized on defense," said Klatte. "They sit a lot of people behind the ball, they slow the game down and it's frustrating."
Shauna Stapleton led the offense with four shots, Parrissa Eyorokon had three and Loredana Riverso and Jessica Okoroafo each had two.
"I felt we had two real good looks but we pushed the ball wide in both instances," said Klatte. "We brought the pressure through the second half and both overtimes, but didn't finish, and in the first half I don't think we played with a sense of urgency. Early goals will set the tone of the match."