WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Before kicking off preseason practice as the month of August arrives Wednesday, women's soccer joined the football program as Purdue's first intercollegiate athletics teams to officially report to campus for another school year. The Boilermakers' annual introductory meetings were held Tuesday on the eve of preseason training getting underway at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Purdue's 2017 team won 10 games and returned to the Big Ten Tournament in head coach Drew Roff's third season. The roster is now comprised entirely of Boilermakers who have played exclusively for Roff during their college careers. But with four starters and an experienced goalkeeper all having moved on, including Maddy Williams and Andrea Petrina embarking on professional careers in Europe, there will be some transition among the roster.
CAPTAINS PROVIDE EXPERIENCE
• Hannah Mussallem (39 career starts), Dannah Williams (28) and Maddy Duncan (11) were selected as team captains at the end of the spring exhibition season. They've accounted for 78 of the 197 career starts (40 percent) among Purdue's active roster.
• However, plenty of current sophomores earned the right to play early and often on last year's 10-win team. Kylie Hase, Maya Lambert and Hannah Melchiorre started all 19 games as freshmen. Multiple freshmen had not started every game for the Boilermakers since 2008. Meanwhile, Sarah Clark and goalkeeper Katie Luce started every game in which they played en route to earning Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. Sarah Griffith played in all 19 games, starting all but one. Mussallem and those six sophomores represent the program's seven returning starters.
• Hannah and Ally Mussallem give Purdue sisters on the roster again. They'll join Alex and Julianna Hairston (teammates from 2013-14) as well as Karah and Tricia Henderson (1998-99) as sister duos to be teammates as Boilermakers.
ROFF CONTINUES TO BUILD UPON TALENTED ROSTER
• Purdue opens preseason practice with a 33-player roster. Including a pair of redshirt sophomores, 26 of those players could be considered underclassmen.
• Twelve new Boilermakers have joined the program this summer. As was the case last season, many of them should receive opportunities to contribute immediately. Top Drawer Soccer highlighted Ally Mussallem, Skylurr Patrick, Mia Roth and Grace Walsh as State Stars this month for their accomplishments as high school seniors. Patrick was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Arkansas and also a TDS All-South Central Region honoree.
• Goalkeeper Marisa Bova graduated high school early and enrolled at Purdue for the start of the 2018 spring semester, playing in the team's exhibition games this past spring. Connecticut transfer Paige Liebel joins the Boilermakers as a sophomore after starting 16 games and logging 1,500 minutes as a defender for the Huskies in 2017.
SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
• After a handful of double-session training days from Aug. 1 to 7, the Boilermakers host both of their preseason exhibition games next week. In-state rivals Indiana State (Aug. 8) and Notre Dame (Aug. 11) both visit Folk Field for 7 p.m. ET kickoffs. The regular season kicks off around the country Aug. 17. Including those exhibition games, Purdue's schedule features five- and four-game homestands over the first six weeks as the team plays 13 of its 20 contests at Folk Field. A Labor Day Weekend road trip to Georgia and South Carolina will also present a formidable non-conference challenge.
• Fans are invited to bring their dogs to the Pooches at the Pitch game on Aug. 26. It's a special 3 p.m. ET kickoff vs. Iowa State for the final game of the four-team Boilermaker Challenge Cup, which features an excellent field again this year. NCAA Tournament qualifiers Northwestern and West Virginia are also in town that weekend.
• The annual GLRSA/Boilers FC youth soccer day tailgate is being held in conjunction with the Oct. 7 game vs. Wisconsin. Big Ten play kicks off the weekend of Sept. 13 to 16 with visits from Michigan State and Michigan. An alumni weekend event is also being planned for Sept. 15 to 16. The Golden Boot trophy will be on the line again as rival Indiana visits Folk Field for a Saturday night game Sept. 29.
The Boilermakers' six-win improvement in 2017 was due in part to a plus-32 change in goal differential. The Boilermakers scored in 17 of their 19 games and also posted seven shutout victories, their most since 2007.
Admission is free for all fans at Folk Field all season.
Purdue's 2017 team won 10 games and returned to the Big Ten Tournament in head coach Drew Roff's third season. The roster is now comprised entirely of Boilermakers who have played exclusively for Roff during their college careers. But with four starters and an experienced goalkeeper all having moved on, including Maddy Williams and Andrea Petrina embarking on professional careers in Europe, there will be some transition among the roster.
CAPTAINS PROVIDE EXPERIENCE
• Hannah Mussallem (39 career starts), Dannah Williams (28) and Maddy Duncan (11) were selected as team captains at the end of the spring exhibition season. They've accounted for 78 of the 197 career starts (40 percent) among Purdue's active roster.
• However, plenty of current sophomores earned the right to play early and often on last year's 10-win team. Kylie Hase, Maya Lambert and Hannah Melchiorre started all 19 games as freshmen. Multiple freshmen had not started every game for the Boilermakers since 2008. Meanwhile, Sarah Clark and goalkeeper Katie Luce started every game in which they played en route to earning Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. Sarah Griffith played in all 19 games, starting all but one. Mussallem and those six sophomores represent the program's seven returning starters.
• Hannah and Ally Mussallem give Purdue sisters on the roster again. They'll join Alex and Julianna Hairston (teammates from 2013-14) as well as Karah and Tricia Henderson (1998-99) as sister duos to be teammates as Boilermakers.
ROFF CONTINUES TO BUILD UPON TALENTED ROSTER
• Purdue opens preseason practice with a 33-player roster. Including a pair of redshirt sophomores, 26 of those players could be considered underclassmen.
• Twelve new Boilermakers have joined the program this summer. As was the case last season, many of them should receive opportunities to contribute immediately. Top Drawer Soccer highlighted Ally Mussallem, Skylurr Patrick, Mia Roth and Grace Walsh as State Stars this month for their accomplishments as high school seniors. Patrick was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Arkansas and also a TDS All-South Central Region honoree.
• Goalkeeper Marisa Bova graduated high school early and enrolled at Purdue for the start of the 2018 spring semester, playing in the team's exhibition games this past spring. Connecticut transfer Paige Liebel joins the Boilermakers as a sophomore after starting 16 games and logging 1,500 minutes as a defender for the Huskies in 2017.
SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
• After a handful of double-session training days from Aug. 1 to 7, the Boilermakers host both of their preseason exhibition games next week. In-state rivals Indiana State (Aug. 8) and Notre Dame (Aug. 11) both visit Folk Field for 7 p.m. ET kickoffs. The regular season kicks off around the country Aug. 17. Including those exhibition games, Purdue's schedule features five- and four-game homestands over the first six weeks as the team plays 13 of its 20 contests at Folk Field. A Labor Day Weekend road trip to Georgia and South Carolina will also present a formidable non-conference challenge.
• Fans are invited to bring their dogs to the Pooches at the Pitch game on Aug. 26. It's a special 3 p.m. ET kickoff vs. Iowa State for the final game of the four-team Boilermaker Challenge Cup, which features an excellent field again this year. NCAA Tournament qualifiers Northwestern and West Virginia are also in town that weekend.
• The annual GLRSA/Boilers FC youth soccer day tailgate is being held in conjunction with the Oct. 7 game vs. Wisconsin. Big Ten play kicks off the weekend of Sept. 13 to 16 with visits from Michigan State and Michigan. An alumni weekend event is also being planned for Sept. 15 to 16. The Golden Boot trophy will be on the line again as rival Indiana visits Folk Field for a Saturday night game Sept. 29.
The Boilermakers' six-win improvement in 2017 was due in part to a plus-32 change in goal differential. The Boilermakers scored in 17 of their 19 games and also posted seven shutout victories, their most since 2007.
Admission is free for all fans at Folk Field all season.