Game Notes / Live Video / Gameday Central
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (2-4) at Illinois (3-5)
Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Illinois Soccer Stadium / Champaign, Illinois
All-Time Series: Illinois leads 11-7-3
All-Time Series in Champaign: Illinois leads 9-0
Last Meeting: Purdue 3, Illinois 1 (9/15/15 in West Lafayette)
Last Meeting in Champaign: Illinois 3, Purdue 0 (9/21/14)
Purdue at Northwestern (7-0)
Sunday, Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. ET / Big Ten Network, BTN2Go
Martin Stadium / Evanston, Illinois
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 14-4
All-Time Series in Evanston: Purdue leads 6-2
Last Meeting: Northwestern 1, Purdue 0 (9/13/15 in West Lafayette)
Last Meeting in Evanston: Purdue 2, Northwestern 1 -- OT (9/19/14)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue women's soccer kicks off Big Ten Conference play with a pair of short trips into the Land of Lincoln, visiting Illinois and Northwestern for another Thursday-Sunday weekend of action.
The Boilermakers open conference play against Illinois for the first time ever. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday evening in Champaign. Purdue will get its first look at Northwestern's new-look and renamed Martin Stadium for Sunday's 4 p.m. ET game live on the Big Ten Network. Located along Lake Michigan, Martin Stadium remains the Big Ten's most picturesque facility. It's also the only soccer pitch in the league with an artificial turf surface.
Purdue has won six straight games in Evanston dating back to an overtime win in 2005. But the Boilermakers have never beaten the Fighting Illini in Champaign, as the home team is undefeated in the series overall. Purdue won four games at the Illinois Soccer Stadium in 2003, including two in the NCAA Tournament, but all four were neutral-site affairs.
The Wildcats are the only undefeated team remaining in the Big Ten, surrendering only one goal in their seven non-conference games. Like Purdue, Northwestern also had a game canceled due to thunderstorms before it could go final. NU's Aug. 28 game at Kentucky never resumed after storms arrived during the halftime break.
Illinois natives Christa Szalach & Dagny Olson along with head coach Drew Roff preview the ILL-NU weekend. #BoilerUp https://t.co/clRKgSHWbm
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) September 14, 2016
The Wildcats close out a six-game homestand this weekend by hosting Indiana and Purdue. Oddly, Northwestern fell out of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America top-25 rankings this week despite posting shutout wins vs. Illinois State and Marquette last weekend.
Illinois snapped its five-game losing streak with a home win against Evansville in its non-conference finale Sunday. But the Illini are 3-1 at home this year, the lone loss coming in double overtime to a Miami (Ohio) team that Purdue won a preseason game against.
The Boilermakers have a dozen Illinois natives on their roster this year, including 10 from the Chicagoland area and Champaign native Dagny Olson. Purdue was victorious in its first trip of the year to Chicagoland, winning 3-0 on an artificial turf surface in an Aug. 9 exhibition game at Loyola.
The Boilermakers have the advantage of playing six of their 11 Big Ten games at home this year, but the schedule doesn't turn home heavy until October when they play four of their final five at Folk Field. That means four of the first six are on the road.
Not only is Northwestern currently undefeated, but the conference schedule also sets up favorably. The Wildcats have the same advantages that Illinois did last year when it claimed the final Big Ten Tournament berth. NU plays six of its 11 Big Ten games at home and does not have to play 2015 league co-champions Penn State and Wisconsin. Northwestern qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 1998, but in some ways the turnaround began at the end of the 2014 campaign when it qualified for the Big Ten Tournament on the final day of the regular season and then upset top-seeded Penn State in a quarterfinal game in West Lafayette.
Purdue's 11-game win streak vs. the Wildcats, the longest against any opponent in program history, was snapped last year when NU was victorious 1-0 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Erika Arkans scored the golden goal in the Boilermakers' overtime win at Northwestern in 2014. Hannah Mussallem, Andrea Petrina and Hannah Leinert scored in Purdue's home win vs. Illinois last season.
B1G play begins tonight in Champaign. @ChristaSzalach discusses the conference season in the latest Off the Record. https://t.co/AZi8U3eNxh
- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) September 15, 2016
QUICK LOOK AT ILLINOIS
- With all-time scoring leader Janelle Flaws (54 career goals) having finally moved on after six years with the program, scoring has been a little tougher to come by for the Illini. But it has also been more balanced. Six different players have combined to account for the team's seven goals over the first eight games. They've scored only two goals over their last five games. Goalkeeper Claire Wheatley entered her senior season as a three-year starter. But it was Michelle Denley that started the first four games this year, making 10 saves in a 1-0 shutout of Illinois State. Both players saw action during the five-game losing streak, but Denley went the distance Sunday vs. Evansville. Seniors Hope D'Addario, Reagan Robishaw and Allison Stucky have all been starters since the beginning of the 2014 season.
QUICK LOOK AT NORTHWESTERN
- Goalkeeper Lauren Clem is in her third season as the starter and has played every minute this season. The six-foot junior has only had to make 15 saves in seven games entering the week as NU has dominated possession to the tune of a 114-46 edge in shots. Breanna Lovera scored in four of the first five games and leads the team with four goals. But she's one of eight Wildcats to score already, combing for 13 goals. Kassidy Gorman has two goals while playing 625 of the 638 minutes. Hannah Davison (623 minutes) also has a goal this year while being an ironwoman.