Preseason Info Packet / 2017 Folk Field Promotions
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Women's soccer once again had the honor of being the first of Purdue's intercollegiate athletics teams to officially report to campus to kick off another school year. Drew Roff's team was the first group of Boilermakers to fully convene, holding its annual preseason meetings Tuesday before opening training camp Wednesday morning at Folk Field.
Purdue's 2017 roster features a blend of youth and experience. Seniors Vanessa Korolas, Andrea Petrina and Gabby LaMere headline the group of six returnees that started at least 10 games in 2016. Senior goalkeeper Erika Yohn has made 25 starts during her career. The Boilermakers have welcomed back 14 letterwinners overall. Including two players that redshirted last season as freshmen, Purdue also has 14 players on the roster that are on track to make their regular-season collegiate debuts this fall.
The Boilermakers should receive a boost from the return of three-year scoring leader Maddy Williams, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury suffered in April 2016. She was able to return to the pitch for the spring exhibition season, helping lead Purdue to a 4-1 mark. She ranks fifth in program history with 24 career goals.
New gear ✅
Team reports tomorrow and training starts Wednesday! #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/o5RWPE11z9-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) July 31, 2017
In April, Roff announced that Korolas, Petrina, Williams and Yohn had been selected as the team captains for the 2017 campaign. Combined, they've made 168 starts and played in 188 regular-season games for Purdue. Korolas has never missed a game, starting all 54 since the start of 2014.
After a handful of double-session training days from Aug. 2 to 7, the Boilermakers travel to South Bend for the first of their two preseason games. The Aug. 9 exhibition game at Notre Dame is paired with an Aug. 12 preseason contest at home against Iowa State, which marks the beginning of a six-game homestand at Folk Field that runs through Labor Day Weekend.
Kent State (Aug. 18), Loyola Marymount (Aug. 21), Indiana State (Aug. 27), DePaul (Aug. 31) and Dayton (Sept. 3) all visit Folk Field over the first three weekends of the regular season. That stretch begins and ends with games against 2016 NCAA Tournament qualifiers. The LMU match will be a special Monday night game at Folk Field. Purdue has not played on a Monday since 2009.
Admission is free for all fans for all games at Folk Field this season.
The annual GLRSA/Boilers FC youth soccer day tailgate is being held in conjunction with the Aug. 27 game against Indiana State. Fans are invited to bring their dogs to Folk Field for the Pooches at the Pitch game on Sept. 3 vs. Dayton. Big Ten play kicks off the weekend of Sept. 14 to 17 with a Michigan-Michigan State road trip and Illinois visits Folk Field on Sept. 28 for the Big Ten home opener.
In his first year (2015), Roff led Purdue to its first winning record since 2009. The Boilermakers have also compiled a 15-4 record in exhibition games since his arrival. But the 2016 campaign proved to be a snakebitten one for Purdue. Injuries to veteran forwards Hannah Leinert and Williams made goals tough to come by at times. The Boilermakers were 1-8-1 when the opposition scored first and went 1-7 away from Folk Field. Their five overtime affairs, four being games in which they held a second-half lead, were the program's most since 2012.
Over the summer, freshman Sarah Clark helped lead her Michigan Hawks club team to an ECNL national championship. Her new teammate Sarah Griffith was named the Girls Player of the Year by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association for a dynamic senior season at Waubonsie Valley.
👕 Part 2 (of 3) highlighting jersey number assignments for our new #Boilermakers. @KatieeLuce, @SarahGClark7, @AlyssaCwidak & @13stephens. pic.twitter.com/fZovBH3GBM
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) June 21, 2017
"We knew how important the class of 2017 would be. Our goal was to put together a big class, with an emphasis on talent, character, and mindset," Roff said on signing day in February. "This group of 12 will make our program stronger in all aspects, and they will have a chance to make an immediate impact. As players they fit the style we want to play, and as people they will contribute immensely to the championship culture we are cultivating. We look forward to this class being the cornerstone of our program's future success."
Purdue will need contributions from its younger players to have a successful season, in part because underclassmen make up 70 percent of the 28-player roster. This year's roster is set to feature five seniors, three juniors, five sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and 12 true freshmen.
👕 Jersey numbers assigned to our newest #Boilermakers, including @LexiMarks27, @Mayal2929, @AbCrab4 & @SarahGriffithh. This is part 1 (of 3) pic.twitter.com/XZxSGxRDvR
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) June 20, 2017
👕 The final quartet of jersey numbers for our newest #Boilermakers. @Hase_Kylie, @Alyssaa_Lumm, Hannah Melchiorre & @Jordan_Oetting. âš½️🚂 pic.twitter.com/aycODyoeJA
-- Purdue Soccer (@PurdueSoccer) June 22, 2017