Sept. 26, 2008
Evanston, Ill. - The Purdue women's soccer team played a complete 90 minutes tonight on the shores of Lake Michigan, as the Boilermakers beat Northwestern 1-0 on a goal in the 88th minute.
Senior forward Felicia Schroeder took a cross from sophomore defender Jessica Stellhorn and slammed a header home for her fourth goal of the season. It was a fitting end on a night when the Boilermakers refused to give up.
"It empowers you," coach Rob Klatte sad. "This type of game provides these women encouragement that they can do it again in the future."
Purdue finished with an 11-5 advantage in shots and tallied eight shots on goal. The Boilermakers were also the aggressor for most of the night, picking up 10 fouls and winning their share of one-on-one situations.
The match got off to a slow start with both teams going back-and-forth at midfield. Junior Loredana Riverso had a couple of good looks in the 29th and 30th minutes, but nothing came to fruition.
Northwestern had their own opportunity in the 43rd minute when their forwards and Purdue's defenders were caught fighting for the ball in front of the Boilermaker net. The ball dribbled past the defense and was heading near the goal line, but sophomore defensive back Liz Secue made a nice play to sweep the ball out of the zone. The first half ended in a scoreless tie.
The Wildcats came out of the second half with another chance to score. In the 57th minute, the Northwestern attack sent in a cross through the Purdue defense. Boilermaker goalkeeper Carianne Betts used her entire 5-10 frame to rise above the Wildcat attackers and punch the ball away. She went up a second time and snatched the ball out of air, ending any hope for a Northwestern goal.
In the 71st minute, Riverso was back on the attack. Schroeder sent in a cross from the left side of the box and Riverso snuck behind the defense. She lept through the air and struck the ball with her right foot, but Wildcat goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards made the save.
Purdue continued to control the tempo as it looked like the game was heading into overtime, but Schroeder came through with the header off a beautiful cross from Stellhorn.
"Tonight, a lot of our older players stepped up. We got a great performance from Carianne Betts," coach Klatte said. "At the same time, we started six freshmen in the second half and got major contribuations from them, too."
The Boilermakers (7-3-1) head north to Madison, Wis. tomorrow as they prepare to take on the Badgers (6-3-1). Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.