Oct. 14, 2010
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Katie Leinert gave Purdue women's soccer a halftime lead by scoring for a third consecutive game, but Michigan found the back of the net twice in the second half to rally back and defeat the Boilermakers, 2-1, Thursday evening.
Purdue (6-9-2, 2-4-1 Big Ten) goalkeeper Carianne Betts helped keep her team in the game, finishing with a career-high 10 saves. She made three impressive punch saves in the first half, deflecting shots over the top of the crossbar to keep Michigan (6-2-4, 1-1-2 Big Ten) off the scoreboard.
Leinert headed in a Kellie Phillips corner kick in the 38th minute for her fifth goal of the season and ninth career, tying Phillips for the team lead this season. Phillips recorded her 15th career assist on the score, moving into sixth place on the program's all-time list.
But the Wolverines tied the game in the first minute of the second half on a soft goal after a long throw-in from the east sideline. Clare Stachel later put Michigan ahead in the 83rd minute when she took control of a quality slot pass by Meghan Toohey and scored with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box inside the right post.
Nkem Ezurike accounted for the Wolverines' first goal, getting a slight touch on a deflected throw-in on the right side of the six-yard box. Betts appeared to get screened after Ezurike changed the path of the ball. By the time the Purdue defense was able to react, the ball had already rolled into the left side of the goal.
"We had a good amount of possession throughout the midfield," Purdue head coach Robert Klatte said. "Michigan was playing in a 4-3-3 [formation] and is a very direct team with some strong, athletic front runners. They tried to work the ball back to front as quickly as possible. They posed us some problems, but I thought overall our defense did a good job of answering all the questions. Carianne Betts, our goalkeeper, made some good saves. Sadly, their direct approach paid dividends [in the second half]."
Purdue successfully defended 10 Michigan corners. But the Boilermakers were only able to create two corner chances of their own. Phillips connected with Leinert on the second of those two chances.
Betts made her key saves in the 13th, 20th and 44th minutes, deflecting shots by the Wolverines' Sarah Stanczyk, Ezurike & Toohey over the crossbar, respectively. She also made a sliding save on a shot by Eunnie Kim in the 41st minute, shortly after Purdue had gone ahead. Betts posted the 10th double-figure save effort by a Boilermaker goalkeeper in program history and the first since 2008.
Michigan goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer finished with five saves. Her top stop came in the 18th minute on a blast by Lauren Montenegro. Kopmeyer dove to her left and got her hand on the shot, deflecting it wide right of the goal.
Purdue also had a pair of quality scoring opportunities, one in each half, on free kicks from the center of the field just a few yards from the top of the 18-yard boxes. Montenegro and Liz Secue were unable to challenge Kopmeyer with those set pieces.
Jordan Frick, Brookley Rogers, Leinert, Montenegro and Secue went the distance among the Purdue field players. Shae Desmond logged 42 minutes to lead the reserves.
Leinert is the first Purdue player to score in three consecutive games since Jessica Okorafo in September 2009.
The Boilermakers remained winless (0-5-2) all-time in Ann Arbor and have now dropped five straight games away from West Lafayette this season.
Purdue is scheduled to have nine days off before returning to action Sunday, Oct. 24 at home against No. 24 Ohio State. The game is scheduled be televised on tape delay later that day on the Big Ten Network.