Aug. 21, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's soccer team earned a 5-0 win over Ohio in the season opener for both teams Friday at the Varsity Soccer Complex.
"I thought we did a good job of stepping out initially and providing pressure and not allowing Ohio to play," head coach Robert Klatte said. "We didn't allow them to settle into a rhythm, and I think that was huge. We really did a good job of stepping up and destroying their confidence. They responded well in the second half and posed us some problems, but I think we have a good attacking side. We got numbers in the box. We are happy with the result, but more so I was happy with the effort the players put in."
The Boilermakers put pressure on the Bobcats' goal early and often. Senior co-captain Jessica Okoroafo broke out of a tie with Parrissa Eyorokon for third place on Purdue's career goals list by finding the back of the net 6 minutes and 29 seconds into the game. The goal was Okoroafo's 28th career score and leaves her eight behind Lauren Sesselmann for the school record.
Senior Katie Seeger scored her first career goal less than two minutes later. At the 8:14 mark of the first half, the Fallbrook, California, native launched a shot into the goal that was assisted by sophomore Lauren Montenegro. Seeger did not have to wait long at all for her second career goal, as she put in a rebound off a shot by Okoroafo in the 47th minute to cap Purdue's scoring. Seeger is the 34th player in program history to record a two-goal game.
"We've been working very hard," Seeger said. "It feels really good to see it pay off because there was that doubt that we were just running so much and it really wasn't going to make much of a difference. To really see the results show up like that is awesome. We were very, very, very tired, but I think it was good. We all worked so hard together and got them tired and the goals came. I was so excited to score."
Sophomore Katie Leinert gave the Boilermakers a 3-0 lead in the 22nd minute when she took a cross from Okoroafo and planted it in the right side of the net. Fellow sophomore Brookley Rogers also earned an assist on the play by tracking the ball down on the left side and playing it into the box. The Boilermakers' fourth goal of the first half came 16 minutes later when senior Sylvia Forbes nailed a header into the back of the net off assists from freshman Jessica Warren and sophomore Lauren Varnau.
Forbes, Seeger and freshman Remi Gibba manned Purdue's back line for the vast majority of the game. The trio led the Boilermaker defense that only saw three shots taken against it. Senior co-captain Jenny Bradfisch faced only one shot during the first half, while junior Carianne Betts was forced to stop just two in the second.
The five goals scored by Purdue are the most in a season opener in program history, and the five-goal margin of victory is also a program record for a season-opening game. The Boilermakers scored four goals on the way to a 4-1 win over Western Kentucky in 2006 to set the previous benchmarks. Purdue also improves to 7-4-1 in season openers and 3-0 all-time against Ohio.
"The demands we've placed on them the last two-and-a-half weeks start to be reinforced," Klatte said. "They can have success if they play in this manner. Nothing comes of this game. It is just a step which we will have to build upon, but at the same time it's a perfect start to the season."
Purdue returns to the pitch Sunday at Butler. Action begins from the Butler Bowl in Indianapolis at 1 p.m. Live results can be found at PurdueSports.com.