Game Notes / Live Video / Live Audio / Gameday Central
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Utah (3-2) at Purdue (2-4)
Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Folk Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Tied 1-1 / All-Time in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Purdue 2, No. 12 Utah 0 (9/15/06)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue women's soccer closes out its non-conference schedule by hosting a Pac-12 opponent for the first time since 2011 as Utah pays its first visit to campus in a decade.
Kickoff at Folk Field is set for 7 p.m. As part of hero appreciation night, all military service personnel receive special $1 admission. The family 4-pack ticket special (2 adult tickets and 2 youth tickets for $12) is also available again. Purdue students receive free admission all season and the athletics department will be offering another shuttle from campus to the field. The shuttle starts its route at 5:45 p.m., making stops at the Stewart Center, the corner of Third & Jischke, and the Purdue West complex.
The Boilermakers are looking to bounce back from a tough Labor Day Weekend road trip in which they suffered shutout losses at No. 4 West Virginia and Dayton. Purdue was able to hold off WVU for the first 65 minutes but ended up losing 2-0. Sunday's game at Dayton was much more frustrating. The Boilermakers was credited with 23 shots in the loss, matching the program high in a game in which they were shut out.
Utah suffered a similar loss to No. 10 BYU on Monday. The Utes had the edge in shots (18-13) and corner kicks (9-4) but lost at home to their in-state rival 2-0. Utah has outscored its opponents 10-0 in its three victories and been shut out in its two losses, among them a 3-0 defeat at Minnesota the opening Sunday of the season. The Gophers are now ranked 10th nationally this week.
Vanessa Korolas & Drew Roff preview Friday's home game with Utah & discuss the WVU-Dayton road trip. #BoilerUp https://t.co/eNYi7Gkek4
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) September 7, 2016
Purdue and Utah played a home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006, with the home team winning both games. The Boilermakers upset the 12th-ranked Utes in West Lafayette in the rematch. The 2-0 win was Purdue's seventh straight shutout at the time, which still stands as a program record. Goalkeeper and all-time saves leader Lauren Mason stopped eight Utah shots that night to help Purdue win the game even though the visiting side had a 13-9 edge in the shot count.
The Boilermakers hosted three Pac-12 opponents -- Oregon State, Colorado and USC -- during the 2011 campaign. Purdue went 1-2 during that stretch, defeating Colorado in the first-ever night game at the program's home pitch, but losing 1-0 to a nationally ranked Oregon State side and to USC in overtime.
Longtime Utah head coach Rich Manning is married to former Purdue assistant Sue Moynihan, who helped start the program with Rob Klatte in 1997. Moynihan came to West Lafayette after a five-year run as the head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was an assistant with the Boilermakers through the 2007 campaign, helping Purdue qualify for the NCAA Tournament five times. Moynihan's 10 seasons continues to rank as the longest tenure of any of the program's assistant coaches. She and Manning were married in 2009 and she served as an assistant at Utah in 2010 and 2011.
Hailey Skolmoski has scored four of the Utes' 10 goals this season. But Utah passes the ball efficiently, indicated by eight players having already recorded an assist. Having surrendered only 13 shots on goal in five games, goalkeepers July Mathias and Carly Nelson (who have split time) have not been forced to make many saves, combining for just eight in 450 minutes.
The Boilermakers are idle Sunday as they prepare for the beginning of Big Ten play, which features a Thursday-Sunday schedule at Illinois and Northwestern next week. Meanwhile, the Utes stop in Fargo on their way home for a Sunday game at North Dakota State.
History for our program this weekend as Shauna Stapleton becomes our 1st Purdue Hall of Fame inductee. Congrats!! https://t.co/ULlfIg98lv
- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) September 9, 2016
Purdue soccer history will be made this weekend as alumna Shauna Stapleton (2004-07) will become the first member of the program inducted into the Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. She and Moynihan were big parts of the Boilermakers' 55-25-8 record from 2004 to 2007, highlighted by a 39-7-3 mark at home. Purdue qualified for three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2005 to 2007, culminating in the program's Big Ten Tournament title and 20-win campaign in 2007.
Stapleton had 10 goals and 11 assists as a senior in 2007 and remains the only player in team history to reach double figures in both categories in the same year. She was named the Offensive MVP of the Big Ten Tournament after recording a goal and three assists over the course of Purdue's three wins in four days. She was also a first team Academic All-America honoree as a senior.
Hey @LifeAtPurdue! Catch a ride on the free shuttle tomorrow to watch us take on Utah @ 7 p.m. Route starts at 5:45 pic.twitter.com/3tu2RjnpnV
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) September 8, 2016