Sept. 4, 2011
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Jessica Warren gave Purdue women's soccer a halftime lead when she connected for a goal off a free kick, but USC equalized in the 63rd minute and went on to defeat the Boilermakers in overtime, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Soccer Complex.
The Trojans' Courtney Garcia scored the golden goal in the 98th minute, shooting the ball into a wide open net at point blank range after a fortunate carom when Purdue defender Brookley Rogers blocked the initial shot attempt of Ashley Freyer.
The overtime win lifted USC (3-3) to the team title of the Illini/Boilermaker Cup, the four-team weekend challenge featuring No. 17 Illinois and Purdue from the Big Ten Conference and USC and Colorado from the Pac-12 Conference. The Trojans defeated Illinois, 3-1, Friday in Champaign. The Boilermakers (2-4) were a 1-0 winner against Colorado, which lost to the Fighting Illini, 3-2, Sunday.
Warren scored her first goal of the season and sixth career in the 40th minute. A foul on USC set up a Purdue free kick 25 yards out in the center of the field. After a pair of Boilers circled past the ball, Warren blasted the set piece towards the goal and it deflected off a USC defender into the left side of the net.
Elizabeth Eddy tied the game near the midpoint of the second half when she scored at point blank range near the left post following a right-to-left cross from Brittany Kerridge.
Goalkeepers Clara Kridler and Shelby Church both made some quality diving saves and stopped six shots apiece.
Hadley Stuart had a pair of quality scoring chances early in the second half, but she hit the right post in the 52nd minute and the left post in the 55th minute. Church was able to make a scrambling save on a rebound chance for Alex Hairston after Stuart's first shot off the post. Church also made an initial diving save on Stuart's second shot, diverting the ball off the post.
Stuart was in front of the net in the final seconds of regulation when Hairston successfully played a left-to-right cross into the 18-yard box, but she was unable to get off a clean shot and the balled popped over the net, clipping the backside of the crossbar.
Kridler made her top save of the day in the 67th minute not long after USC had equalized. She dove to her left to make a one-handed save near the right post on a shot by Samantha Johnson, who had broken free for a 1-v-1 opportunity versus the Purdue `keeper. Kridler also made a nice point blank stop on a shot by Freyer, a play that took place in between Stuart's shots off the post.
Church kept the game scoreless early with quality saves on shots from the left flank by Warren and Jordan Frick in the 28th and 30th minutes, respectively. But Church's top save denied Hairston of a potential go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute. Hairston was in excellent position in the heart of the 18-yard box, but Church deflected the ball wide of the right post with a diving stop to her left.
Rogers and Warren went the distance among the Purdue field players. Mollie Kuramoto (92) also logged 90-plus minutes. Stuart led the reserves with 51 minutes, starting the second half and overtime.
The Boilermakers enjoyed a halftime lead for the first time this season, but suffered their first overtime loss since losing at home to Texas A&M in September 2010.
Purdue returns to action Friday when it hosts the four-team Boilermaker Challenge Tournament. Dayton and Kansas will square off at 5 p.m., followed by Purdue and Cal State Northridge under the lights at 7:30 p.m. Friday's winners and losers will be paired up for Sunday's games.
Illini/Boilermaker Cup All-Tournament Team
Brittany Kerridge, USC
Shelby Church, USC
Carly Butcher, USC
Ashley Freyer, USC
Alex Hairston, Purdue
Mollie Kuramoto, Purdue
Clara Kridler, Purdue
Vanessa DiBernardo, Colorado
Marissa Mykines, Illinois
Niki Read, Illinois
Amy Barczuk, Colorado
Kate Russell, Colorado