Game Notes / Live Video / Live Audio Sunday / Gameday Central
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (3-8, 1-4 B1G) at No. 24 Rutgers (8-2-2, 3-1-1 B1G)
Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Yurcak Field / Piscataway, New Jersey
All-Time Series: Rutgers leads 1-0-1
All-Time Series in Piscataway: Rutgers leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Purdue 0, No. 23 Rutgers 0 (10/11/15 in West Lafayette)
Last Meeting in Piscataway: No. 25 Rutgers 4, Purdue 0 (10/5/14)
Ohio State (7-4-2, 1-2-2 B1G) at Purdue
Sunday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Folk Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Tied 11-11-2
All-Time Series in West Lafayette: Ohio State leads 5-4
Last Meeting: OSU 3, Purdue 2 (10/8/15 in Columbus)
Last Meeting in West Lafayette: Purdue 3, OSU 1 (9/14/14)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Sunday's Senior Day and GLRSA/Boilers FC local youth soccer gathering highlights Purdue women's soccer's first week of October action, which features games at No. 24 Rutgers and vs. Ohio State.
Kickoff Thursday at Yurcak Field in Piscataway is set for 7 p.m. The Boilermakers visit the East Coast for the third year in a row after playing at both Maryland and Rutgers in October 2014 and the Terrapins in College Park again last season.
Beginning Sunday, Purdue plays four of its final five regular-season games at Folk Field. Kickoff vs. Ohio State is set for 1 p.m. The Boilermakers' large senior class will be recognized for its contributions to the program starting at 12:40 p.m.
Meanwhile, Sunday is also the fourth annual GLRSA/Boilers FC gathering. All local youth soccer players (and their families) that participate in the Greater Lafayette Regional Soccer Alliance or Boilers FC club systems receive $1 admission. Those groups have helped Purdue draw over 1,300 fans on GLRSA/Boilers FC day the last three years. Last year's crowd of 1,488 was a new record at the Boilermakers' home pitch.
Rutgers and Penn State both qualified for the NCAA College Cup (Final Four) last year. Purdue visits Central Pennsylvania next weekend for its final road game of the regular season. The 2003 campaign marked the last time the Boilermakers played two teams (North Carolina, Penn State) that qualified for the College Cup the year before.
Megan Kaser & Drew Roff preview #Purdue's Rutgers-OSU weekend. Kaser will be among the 12 seniors honored Sunday. https://t.co/BsMjUWKFUh
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) October 4, 2016
Purdue's 12 seniors have combined to make 188 starts during their careers. That total does not include three-year starter Maddy Williams, who will be back next year as a redshirt senior after suffering a season-ending knee injury in April. Claire Albertz, Katie Bittner, Jordan Ginther, Holly Gregory, Juliana Hairston, Megan Kaser, Mikayla Lasky, Gianna Milaro, Delia Repasky, Christa Szalach and Williams all joined the program together in the fall of 2013. Fellow seniors Hannah Leinert and Dagny Olson joined the class as transfers from Illinois State in January 2015.
Together, Purdue's 12 seniors that will be recognized Sunday will have combined to earn two dozen Academic All-Big Ten awards during their careers after the list of fall honorees is announced later this semester. Last season they helped lead the program to its first winning season since 2009. Purdue's first-ever victory at Illinois and an overtime win vs. Cincinnati, both featuring goals from members of the senior class, have highlighted the current campaign so far.
But after the loss at Iowa on Friday, the Boilermakers have some work to do in the season's finale month if they're going to end their Big Ten Tournament drought. With four of the final six games at home, the schedule is certainly in Purdue's favor. Last year, Illinois earned the final Big Ten Tournament berth with 15 standings points. To get to 15 points this year, the Boilermakers will need either four wins or three wins and three draws this month.
Purdue has played Ohio State more than any team in program history. Sunday's game will be the 25th meeting in series history, which dates back to the Boilermakers' inaugural 1998 campaign. Illinois and Minnesota are the only other opponents Purdue has played every year. But it's the six Big Ten Tournament meetings with the Buckeyes, all occurring between 2001 and 2008, which puts the Purdue-OSU series over the top. It's also been very even, with both sides winning 11 times (plus two draws).
The home team has won four of the last five meetings when the Boilermakers and Buckeyes have squared off. Purdue's 2012 win in Columbus is the lone exception in that stretch. And after both the 2012 and 2013 meetings in Columbus both ended in 1-0 fashion, the last two Purdue-OSU games have featured a combined nine goals. Erika Arkans scored a first-half equalizer in Columbus a year ago.
Ginther made a couple highlight-reel caliber saves in last year's scoreless draw with Rutgers in the home finale at Folk Field. It was Purdue's first scoreless draw since the 2010 Big Ten opener vs. Wisconsin and remains the program's last official shutout at home.
Head coach Drew Roff said defense was the main focal point of training this week. He was encouraged that center back Dannah Williams was expected to be back in the starting lineup this week for what would be her first start since Sept. 1 at No. 4 West Virginia. She played the entire second half Friday at Iowa.
QUICK LOOK AT RUTGERS
- The Scarlet Knights are 18-7-4 in Big Ten play since joining the league in time for the 2014 campaign. Their only losses of any kind this season have come in overtime at the hands of Georgetown (Sept. 2) and Michigan (Sept. 29), teams which were both 9-1-1 entering the week. Rutgers' eight goals against are second fewest in the league, although RU conceded four of those goals last week on its Michigan-Michigan State road trip. The week before, the Knights ended Northwestern's lengthy shutout streak at 659 consecutive minutes while handing the Wildcats' their first loss of the season. Nicole Whitley (3 goals, 9 assists) and Madison Tiernan (5 goals, 4 assists) have both contributed to nine goals this season. Whitley leads the Big Ten in assists. Eleven different players have scored a goal for Rutgers this year. Redshirt senior Alana Jimenez has taken over as the starting goalkeeper this season, seeing the first extended action of her career. With RU surrendering only an average of 3.5 shots on goal per game, she's only had to make 33 saves in 1,125 minutes.
QUICK LOOK AT OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes began the season nationally ranked after closing 2015 with a late-season surge that saw OSU qualify for the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament despite finishing seventh in the Big Ten. Ohio State and Rutgers both had their 2015 seasons end at the hands of eventual national champion Penn State in the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes opened the season 6-1 this year after an overtime win vs. Texas on Sept. 9, but they went 0-3-1 over their next four games, with all three losses coming in 3-0 fashion. Lindsay Agnew posted a hat trick in a Sept. 25 win vs. Iowa and OSU dominated the shot (28-9) and corner kick (17-3) counts in last weekend's scoreless draw with Northwestern. Agnew has scored eight of Ohio State's 20 goals, ranking fourth in the league. The Buckeyes lost starting goalkeeper Jillian McVicker when she suffered multiple serious injuries in an unfortunate three-player collision in the opening minutes of the Sept. 18 at Minnesota. Megan Gledernick has been the primary keeper since. Ohio State plays at Maryland on Thursday.