LINCOLN, Neb. – Redshirt junior midfielder Sarah Griffith scored her second goal of the season, but it was not enough for the Purdue soccer team in a 2-1 loss at Nebraska on Thursday afternoon at Hibner Soccer Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Boilermakers (1-3-0) fell behind 1-0 in the 12th minute and 2-0 in the 59th before Griffith cut the deficit in half in the 68th minute. However, the Huskers (1-1-1) did not let Purdue find the equalizer.
Playing its first true road match of the season, the Boilermakers had 10 shots to Nebraska's 11, while the home side had a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. Seven of Purdue's 10 shots came in the second half and four of its five corner kicks occurred in the final 45 minutes.
Griffith led the squad with four shots, while freshman forward Nicole Kevdzija had three shots and senior defender Maya Lambert had two. Griffith, Kevdzija and Lambert each had a shot on goal in the contest. In goal, junior goalkeeper Marisa Bova made four saves.
"Unfortunately we got off to a slow start, and that kind of set the tone for the first half," Purdue coach Drew Roff said. "Going down a goal, certainly on the road, that's not the way you want to start out a game. Nebraska brought energy, a lot of physicality at the start, and I felt like we didn't match that. By the time that we grew into the game, it was towards the end of the first half, and then the beginning of the second half, but we then gave up the second goal in transition. Having to dig ourselves out of a 2-0 hole really required a lot of energy, and we ended up coming up a little bit short. It wasn't our best performance of the season, and that's where my frustration lies. I feel that we certainly didn't start the game well enough, and that's something we need to correct. We have to get back to work soon and figure out the best way to put together a better 90 minutes on Monday."
All four of the Boilermakers' matches this year have been one-goal contests.
Purdue's goal came at 67:00. The play began on the far side near the bench, where freshman midfielder Emily Mathews centered a ball to junior midfielder Grace Walsh near the center circle. Walsh quickly delivered a long ball up to the far corner of the 18-yard box for Griffith, and she one-touched it past Nebraska's keeper, who was out of the goal, and into the near corner of the net.
Griffith tallied her second goal of the season, while Mathews earned her second assist of the year and Walsh her first.
Nebraska had the first opportunity of the match, with a blocked shot at 4:17, and Bova made her first save 41 seconds later.
At 11:58, the Huskers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Eleanor Dale. The goal was on a header from inside the six on a cross in from the right of the goal on the endline.
The Boilermakers had a great chance with a corner kick in the 17th minute. Freshman forward Victoria Kevdzija sent a ball into the box to Nicole Kevdzija, but the shot from 10 yards out went wide.
Lambert had the next opportunity for Purdue in the 34th minute on a free kick near midfield. The senior sent a long ball into the box, but was unable to connect with a Purdue attacker.
In the final three-plus minutes of the half, Lambert had a shot saved, and then Bova made a nice save with 30 seconds left.
The Huskers had two great chances in the opening minutes of the second half. First, Bova made a save inside the six and junior defender Teagan Jones followed with a great block on the near post on the rebound attempt. On the ensuing corner, Jones had a header to clear the ball out of the box.
Bova made another save at 51:55, and Nebraska's keeper stopped a shot by Nicole Kevdzija.
Nebraska extended its lead to 2-0 on Dale's second goal of the match at 58:06. Dale scored on a header from just outside the six on a cross in from the near corner.
Purdue answered in the 68th minute to make it a 2-1 match.
Junior midfielder Sydney Duarte had a shot blocked in the 77th minute, and Griffith had one blocked in the 80th. She had another blocked shot in the 83rd to set up a corner kick, but that proved to be the last shot of the match for either team.
Up next, Purdue faces Wisconsin, the reigning Big Ten regular-season champions, on Monday, March 8, at 2 p.m. The UW home match will be played at Mercyhealth Sportscore Two in Loves Park, Illinois.
The Boilermakers (1-3-0) fell behind 1-0 in the 12th minute and 2-0 in the 59th before Griffith cut the deficit in half in the 68th minute. However, the Huskers (1-1-1) did not let Purdue find the equalizer.
Playing its first true road match of the season, the Boilermakers had 10 shots to Nebraska's 11, while the home side had a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. Seven of Purdue's 10 shots came in the second half and four of its five corner kicks occurred in the final 45 minutes.
Griffith led the squad with four shots, while freshman forward Nicole Kevdzija had three shots and senior defender Maya Lambert had two. Griffith, Kevdzija and Lambert each had a shot on goal in the contest. In goal, junior goalkeeper Marisa Bova made four saves.
"Unfortunately we got off to a slow start, and that kind of set the tone for the first half," Purdue coach Drew Roff said. "Going down a goal, certainly on the road, that's not the way you want to start out a game. Nebraska brought energy, a lot of physicality at the start, and I felt like we didn't match that. By the time that we grew into the game, it was towards the end of the first half, and then the beginning of the second half, but we then gave up the second goal in transition. Having to dig ourselves out of a 2-0 hole really required a lot of energy, and we ended up coming up a little bit short. It wasn't our best performance of the season, and that's where my frustration lies. I feel that we certainly didn't start the game well enough, and that's something we need to correct. We have to get back to work soon and figure out the best way to put together a better 90 minutes on Monday."
All four of the Boilermakers' matches this year have been one-goal contests.
Purdue's goal came at 67:00. The play began on the far side near the bench, where freshman midfielder Emily Mathews centered a ball to junior midfielder Grace Walsh near the center circle. Walsh quickly delivered a long ball up to the far corner of the 18-yard box for Griffith, and she one-touched it past Nebraska's keeper, who was out of the goal, and into the near corner of the net.
Griffith tallied her second goal of the season, while Mathews earned her second assist of the year and Walsh her first.
Nebraska had the first opportunity of the match, with a blocked shot at 4:17, and Bova made her first save 41 seconds later.
At 11:58, the Huskers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Eleanor Dale. The goal was on a header from inside the six on a cross in from the right of the goal on the endline.
The Boilermakers had a great chance with a corner kick in the 17th minute. Freshman forward Victoria Kevdzija sent a ball into the box to Nicole Kevdzija, but the shot from 10 yards out went wide.
Lambert had the next opportunity for Purdue in the 34th minute on a free kick near midfield. The senior sent a long ball into the box, but was unable to connect with a Purdue attacker.
In the final three-plus minutes of the half, Lambert had a shot saved, and then Bova made a nice save with 30 seconds left.
The Huskers had two great chances in the opening minutes of the second half. First, Bova made a save inside the six and junior defender Teagan Jones followed with a great block on the near post on the rebound attempt. On the ensuing corner, Jones had a header to clear the ball out of the box.
Bova made another save at 51:55, and Nebraska's keeper stopped a shot by Nicole Kevdzija.
Nebraska extended its lead to 2-0 on Dale's second goal of the match at 58:06. Dale scored on a header from just outside the six on a cross in from the near corner.
Purdue answered in the 68th minute to make it a 2-1 match.
Junior midfielder Sydney Duarte had a shot blocked in the 77th minute, and Griffith had one blocked in the 80th. She had another blocked shot in the 83rd to set up a corner kick, but that proved to be the last shot of the match for either team.
Up next, Purdue faces Wisconsin, the reigning Big Ten regular-season champions, on Monday, March 8, at 2 p.m. The UW home match will be played at Mercyhealth Sportscore Two in Loves Park, Illinois.