Oct. 31, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Purdue women's soccer team could not overcome a sluggish start Friday night and fell 1-0 at the hands of the Illinois Fighing Illini. Even with the loss, the Boilermakers locked up the No. 3 seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament because Michigan State tied Michigan earlier in the evening.
Junior Loredana Riverso led the attack for Purdue, registering five shots with two on goal. Freshman Katie Leinert added three shots and fellow newbies Kellie Phillips and Alexis Tryba each tallied two shots.
Redshirt junior Sylvia Forbes, junior Katie Seeger and sophomores Liz Secue and Jessica Stellhorn performed well on the Boilermaker back line. Goalkeeper Jenny Bradfisch racked up three saves, a few of which were of the top notch quality.
Illinois got on the attack right after the opening whistle with a shot by Chichi Nweke in the second minute. Bradfisch was blinded by her own defenders on the shot from 10 yards, but was able to dive to her right and make the one-handed save.
Two minutes later Bradfisch came to the rescue again, this time with a punch over the crossbar. Courtney Bell launched a free kick from 25 yards over the Purdue defense, but the Boilermaker keeper was able to get her first up just in time.
The Fighting Illini scored their goal in the 27th minute when Emily Zurrer knocked in a header off a Marti Desjarlais corner.
Purdue turned into the aggressor in the second half, switching formations from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3. Illinois' defense was swarming the whole night, however. The Boilermakers managed just one shot on goal in the second half and only five for the entire match.
Phillips had Purdue's best chance to score, receiving a cross from freshman Britney Scott. Scott had dribbled the ball past the Illinois defense along their right end line and sent the pass to 15 yards for Phillips. The Kingman, Ariz. native ripped a shot that went just high.
The Boilermakers finish the regular season at 11-6-3 overall and 5-3-2 in the Big Ten. Their third place conference finish is the fourth consecutive season Purdue has placed in the top three.
The Big Ten Tournament begins Thursday at the University of Iowa. The Boilermakers' opponent will be either Northwestern or Ohio State, depending on the result of the Northwestern/Wisconsin match later this evening.