Sept. 12, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's soccer team fell in overtime to the seventh-ranked Texas A&M Aggies 2-1 on Sunday at the Varsity Soccer Complex.
"I think this was one of our best performances of the season, certainly energy wise," Purdue skipper Robert Klatte said. "Our team was focused. We battled and created a goal early on. Sadly, we allowed them to counter fairly quickly after that and get a direct, simple goal. Overall, the final result is disappointing, but I think we have a lot to build on. We have to continue to focus on the things we are doing well."
Purdue (3-4-1) came out with a high energy attack early on. The Boilermakers pressured the Aggies all over the field and were able to strike first in the ninth minute. Katie Leinert made a deep run down into the right side of the penalty box before sending the ball towards the goal. The ball was redirected by an Aggie defender into the back of the net for an own goal and a Purdue 1-0 lead.
Texas A&M (6-1) stormed back in the next minute. Rachel Shipley sent a through-ball to a racing Whitney Hooper who turned on the burners and outran the Boilermaker defense for a one-on-one with goalkeeper Carianne Betts. Hooper rocketed a shot from 10 yards past Betts into the right side of the goal to knot the score at one.
Purdue came back with an attack of its own in the 12th minute. After an Aggie foul, Purdue was awarded a free kick just outside the 18. Junior Lauren Montenegro stepped up and fired a shot narrowly missing left of the goal. The Boilermakers kept pressuring and attacking Texas A&M which created several scoring opportunities including four first half corner kicks. In the 24th minute, Kellie Phillips lobbed a corner in front of the goal. After the ball bounced around in front, Montenegro got a clean shot from 10 yards that sailed just over the crossbar.
In the 26th minute, the Aggies put together an attack of their own. A Purdue foul in the middle third of the field created a free kick opportunity. The Aggies sent the kick towards the top right corner, but Betts made a great diving, punch save to keep the score tied at one. The remaining 19 minutes of the first half were extremely physical and even by both teams.
Purdue brought its aggressive style again to start the second half. In the 48th minute, freshman Hadley Stuart stole a pass from the Texas A&M back line. The Zionsville, Ind., native fired a quick shot from inside the 18 just over the top of the goal. The Boilermakers had several great chances throughout the game that ended up just high over the goal.
The final 15 minutes of regulation were mostly controlled by the Aggies. Texas A&M peppered shots at the Purdue goal, but Betts came up with one diving save after another. Her biggest save of the afternoon was in the 84th minute. Purdue was called for a foul just outside the penalty box. Merritt Mathias bent a missile towards around the Boilermaker wall and towards the lower right corner of the goal. Betts made a fingertip save on the goal line to keep the score tied and force overtime.
Purdue came out with a nice attack to start the extra session. The Boilermakers won a corner kick in the 92nd minute that Phillips sent right in front of the goal. However, goalkeeper Kristin Arnold made a great punch save to thwart the attack. The Aggies came back with a corner of their own just one minute later. Shipley sent the ball to the middle of the penalty box where Bri Young got a head on it. She sent the ball towards the right corner of the goal past the diving arms of Betts for the game-winning goal. Shipley had two assists on the day. Young also scored both goals a year ago in Purdue's 3-2 win in College Station.
"It was a good performance, but certainly not the result we wanted," Klatte said. "Now we head to Colorado next weekend for a pair of games and we just need to find a way to finish and score a few more goals. It was a solid effort, but we know we get a little bit better."
The loss evens the series record with Texas A&M at one win apiece. It also drops Purdue's home record to 2-3-1 on the season.
The Boilermakers return to action Friday when they travel to Boulder, Colo., to face the Colorado Buffaloes. Kickoff from Prentup Field is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET. Live results can be found at purduesports.com.