Oct. 15, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 18th-ranked Purdue women's soccer team earned a 1-0 win over Michigan on Thursday afternoon amid a constant mist and the temperature approaching 40 degrees at the Varsity Soccer Complex.
"We're really happy with the result," head coach Robert Klatte said. "I thought we were organized for the most part. It was a workman-like performance in not the best of conditions. We battled, won a lot of loose balls and came up with the key goal."
Purdue (8-3-3, 3-1-2) scored first when senior co-captain Jessica Okoroafo bounced a ball across the box, where freshman Jessica Warren was waiting. Warren took a shot from eight yards out back across into the left side of the net for her first collegiate goal. The freshman from Carmel, Ind., become the second consecutive Boilermaker to notch the game-winning goal with her first career score after junior Roya Akhavain also pulled the trick in Purdue's 1-0 win over Illinois on Oct. 2.
Okoroafo's assist, which was the 16th of her career, moved her into a tie with Annette Kent for second on Purdue's all-time career points list with 81 and broke a tie for fifth with fellow senior Loredana Riverso on the program's all-time career assists list. Okoroafo also earned the sixth game-winning assist of her career, which moved her into a tie for third on Purdue's all-time list with Riverso, junior Jessica Stellhorn and four others.
"It felt really good to score," Warren said. "I'm excited. This was a very important game. It not only helped us in the Big Ten standings, but it was encouraging for us after losing last Sunday."
Michigan (5-7-2, 0-2-2) had a chance to get on the board five minutes into the game. Courtney Mercier took a shot from 25 yards out, which goalkeeper Jenny Bradfisch knocked down but could not grab. Amy Kippert came sprinting in and nailed another shot at Bradfisch, who dove in front and stopped the shot to thwart Michigan's attack.
The Wolverines would not threaten the goal again until the final two minutes, when a shot from Kelsey Rogind off a corner kick was saved by Bradfisch, who earned the 39th win and 14th shutout of her career.
"Jessica Warren had a fantastic finish," Klatte said. "She found the opportunity to finish it. The ball found her feet, and she was calm and finished. We relied on Jenny Bradfisch to make a key save early in the game, and then she dealt with one or two crosses very well. We weren't going to give much up. We just had to make sure we didn't leak any goals at the end, so we're happy about that. Now, we go forward to five fantastic days of training."
Purdue improved to 5-1-2 at home in 2009 and earned the program's 75th all-time win at the Varsity Soccer Complex. The Boilermakers are 75-23-11 at the facility, which opened in 1999. Purdue also moved back into first place in the Big Ten with 11 points. The Boilermakers were fifth entering the game, but leapfrogged back to the top of the standings above of the 10 points accumulated by Minnesota and Wisconsin and the nine earned by Ohio State and Penn State.
The Boilermakers outshot the Wolverines 15-6 with each team putting four shots on goal. Purdue improved to 8-1-1 this season when scoring first and 5-0-1 when leading at halftime. Michigan leads the all-time series 5-3-3, but Purdue now holds a 3-2-1 edge in West Lafayette.
Purdue returns to action Oct. 22 when it wraps up a five-game home stand by hosting Evansville. Kickoff from the Varsity Soccer Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. Live results and a live radio broadcast can be found at PurdueSports.com.