Oct. 3, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State Spartans knocked of the Purdue Boilermakers 2-0 on Sunday at DeMartin Stadium behind two goals from Laura Heyboer.
"I thought we had a pretty good performance today," Purdue skipper Robert Klatte said. "We played a good first half and controlled possession in the attacking end of the field for a lot of the time. Goalkeeper Clara Kridler stepped in and came up with several big saves today. However, once again we were stung again by our inability to convert chances. We were able to create a lot of great scoring chances, but couldn't finish on any of them."
Michigan State (7-3-1, 2-1) tested the Boilermakers early with a breakaway chance in the 6th minute. Olivia Stander blasted a shot towards the top of the goal from 12 yards, but Kridler, making her first career start, made a great punch save to keep the game scoreless. The Spartans were awarded a corner kick and had another great opportunity to get on the scoreboard. Hannah Peterson took the kick and sent it in front of the goal where Samantha Cook was waiting. She was able to get her head on the ball and redirected towards the corner of the goal, but Kridler came up with another great save.
Purdue (5-7-2, 1-2-1) had its first scoring chance in the 8th minute. The Spartans were called for a foul near the left corner in their own third of the field. Kellie Phillips took the kick and found Liz Secue wide open in front of the goal. Secue drove a shot to the lower middle of the goal, but Jill Flietstra was able to make the save for Michigan State.
The Spartans finally got on the scoreboard in the 23rd minute. Peterson found Heyboer 20 yards out on the right side of the penalty box. The junior turned and blasted a shot over Kridler's head into the top of the net to give Michigan State an early one goal advantage.
The Boilermakers had an opportunity to tie the game in the 31st minute, but Flietstra came up with an unbelievable save. Purdue was able to center the ball to the middle of the box where Katie Leinert was waiting. The Wildwood, Mo., native headed the ball towards the inside of the left post, but Flietstra made a full-extension, diving save on the goal line to prevent Purdue from scoring the equalizer before the half.
Purdue came out in the second half with a similar aggressive attack as the first. Jessica Warren found an open lane on the left side of the penalty box in the 51st minute, but Flietstra made another diving save.
Michigan State thought they had the second goal of the game in the 81st minute after Peterson found the back of the net off a rebounded corner kick. She sent the corner towards to the front of the goal before it was headed out by Lauren Montenegro. The ball bounced outside the 18 yard box where Peterson drove a shot into the right corner of the goal. However, the offside flag was up as there were multiple Spartans beyond the Boilermaker defense.
Heyboer eventually added her second goal of the game in the 84th minute on a pass from Stander. She wove her way around the Boilermakers' defense where she found an opening 10 yards out on the left side. She blasted a shot that beat Kridler just inside the right post to give the Spartans the 2-0 advantage. The goal was her eighth of the season.
The loss drops Purdue's all-time record against Michigan State to 8-4-1. It was also the first time that the Boilermakers fell to Michigan State since 2002. The shutout was Flietstra's league-leading eighth of the season.
The Boilermakers return to action on Thursday when they welcome in-state rival Indiana for the Golden Boot trophy. Kickoff from the Varsity Soccer Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. Live results and a live radio broadcast of the game can be found at purduesports.com.