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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Marshall (15-4-3 in 2015) at Purdue (9-8-1 in 2015)
Friday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Folk Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 2-0
All-Time Series in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Purdue 2, Marshall 1 (9/4/14 in Huntington)
Last Meeting in West Lafayette: No. 25 Purdue 3, Marshall 0 (8/30/03)
Montana (9-11-2 in 2015) at Purdue
Sunday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Folk Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Purdue 3, Montana 1 (9/11/15 in Missoula)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue women's soccer kicks off its new season at home for the seventh time in the last eight years, welcoming Marshall and Montana to Folk Field for the season-opening weekend.
Action begins Friday afternoon with a Montana-Oakland neutral-site game at 4 p.m. The Boilermakers host Marshall on Friday at 7 p.m. and Montana on Sunday at 1 p.m. Marshall and Oakland will be not be playing each other Sunday.
Marshall and Montana were both tabbed fourth in their respective leagues' preseason polls.
Purdue students receive free admission at Folk Field all season. Free pizza will be offered to the first 100 students at Friday's pregame tailgate. The special family 4-pack ticket special (2 adult and 2 youth tickets for $12) is also available for the season opener. Sunday, fans are invited to bring their dog to Folk Field for the new Pooches at the Pitch promotion. Proof of vaccination is required. At all weekend games this season, fans 21 and over can also purchase beer and wine at Folk Field. Sales end at the beginning of the second half.
The Boilermakers are 11-6-1 all-time in season openers, including a 9-4-1 mark when the opener has been played in West Lafayette. Purdue hasn't hosted Marshall since the 2003 season opener. However, the Boilermakers did win two years ago in Huntington, overcoming an early 1-0 deficit thanks to goals from Maddy Williams and Delia Repasky.
Fresh off its first winning season since 2009 in Drew Roff's first year as head coach, and a pair of shutout wins in preseason exhibition action, the Boilermakers will be challenged against a formidable Marshall side in Friday's opener. The Thundering Herd only lost twice in regulation a year ago en route to finishing second in Conference USA.
Purdue scored nine more goals in 2015 than it had the year prior while playing one fewer regular-season game. The Boilermakers will have to overcome the loss of Williams, the team's top goal scorer each of the last three years, to a season-ending knee injury suffered in the spring. But they have a very experienced roster with 12 other seniors along with three more returning starters from their sophomore and junior classes. Roff's teams have also enjoyed success in his second season on the job in the past. Illinois State won 11 games and its second of three straight Missouri Valley Conference titles in 2008. Two years earlier, the University of Indianapolis won a program-record 17 games, including an NCAA Division II Tournament match in its first-ever postseason appearance.
Hannah Leinert scored twice in the Boilermakers' 3-1 win at Montana last season, a game that was contested at an elevation of 3,200 feet in Missoula. Purdue took control of the contest early with three goals in the first 35 minutes.
The Boilermakers play 10 of their 18 regular-season games at home this year, but don't have another two-game weekend at Folk Field until Sept. 23 to 25 when Wisconsin and Minnesota come to town. Purdue's formidable non-conference slate also features home dates vs. Cincinnati (Aug. 28) and Utah (Sept. 9).
Gianna Milaro & head coach Drew Roff discuss Purdue's new season and first 2 home games. #BoilerUp https://t.co/YVVFQJ0z11
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) August 18, 2016
QUICK LOOK AT MARSHALL
- Monmouth and North Texas were the only teams to defeat the Thundering Herd last season, coincidentally the 1-0 results coming in the season opener and championship game of the C-USA Tournament that turned out to be MU's season finale. Along the way Marshall put together a 12-game unbeaten streak (9-0-3) from Aug. 23 through Oct. 4.
- Sydney Arnold is back for her senior season after scoring a team-high nine goals last year. The Thundering Herd out shot its opponents 385-240 for the year. But conceding only 16 goals in 22 games also a big part of Marshall's success. All nine shutouts were recorded by graduated goalkeeper Lizzie Kish, who started against Purdue in 2014, meaning there's likely to be a new face in net this year.
- The Thundering Herd dropped preseason exhibition games to Dayton (3-2) and Ball State (1-0).
QUICK LOOK AT MONTANA
- The Grizzlies posted six of their nine wins at home last season while recording just a pair of true road wins. Purdue was one of only three teams to defeat Montana in Missoula last year. The Grizz will get an offensive boost by the return of 2014 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year Hallie Widner, who missed last season with a broken leg. Widner scored a team-high seven goals two years ago.
- Goalkeeper Kailey Norman and center back Tess Brenneman are back for their senior seasons. Defensively, Montana will striving for a bit more consistency after conceding 33 goals in 22 games. Twenty-two of those goals against came in the Grizzlies' eight road loss.
- Montana scored in the final minute of regulation to defeat the University of Alberta 1-0 in its lone exhibition game.