NASHVILLE – The Purdue soccer team concludes the opening weekend of the season with a nationally-televised matchup at No. 18 Vanderbilt on Sunday, August 22, at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex in Nashville.
The contest will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, while live stats can be found at Vanderbilt.Statbroadcast.com. Updates from Nashville also can be found by following @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, while direct links to follow along are available on the schedule page at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
The Boilermakers (0-0-1) and Commodores (1-0-0) both opened the season at their home parks on Thursday night with matches that took overtime to decide. In front of the largest home crowd in program history, Purdue played to a 1-1 draw to Kentucky, while Vandy topped Tennessee Tech in the 97th minute, 1-0.
LAST TIME OUT: RECORD CROWD WATCHES BOILERMAKERS RALLY
The program attendance record was broken on Thursday night, as 2,125 fans made their return to a Purdue sports event to see the Boilermakers tie Kentucky, 1-1 at Folk Field. Senior forward Sarah Griffith scored the match-tying goal at 47:34, and it was another highlight-reel score that would be ranked No. 5 on ESPN Sports Center's Top-10 Plays later in the evening.
Purdue had an 18-14 advantage in shots, and both teams had seven shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Marisa Bova and her UK counterpart each made six saves. Griffith led all players with seven shots and had a game-high-tying two shots on goal. The visitor's goal came in the 30th minute.
A complete recap from the match, including box score, postgame comments from coach Drew Roff and highlights, can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
OPENING-WEEKEND SCHEDULING
Sunday's matchup at No. 18 Vanderbilt marks the first time since 2011 that the Boilermakers play a road game on the opening weekend of the season (excluding last season's Big Ten-only slate, contested in the spring of 2021). The 2011 campaign began with a 1-0 win at Toledo on August 19, and since then, the earliest Purdue played away from Folk Field was August 26, 2016, with a trip to Baylor to begin weekend No. 2.
Additionally, Sunday is the earliest in the year that Purdue has faced a ranked opponent since 2011. Following the win at Toledo to open 2011, the Old Gold and Black lost at No. 13 West Virginia, 3-0. In seventh-year head coach Drew Roff's tenure, the Boilermakers' earliest game against a top-25 foe came on September 1, 2016, a 2-0 loss at No. 4 West Virginia.
Under Roff, Purdue is 7-3-1 in opening-weekend games, including last season. Following Thursday night's draw to Kentucky, the Boilermakers are 5-1-1 in season-openers and 6-0-1 in home-opening contests.
SERIES HISTORY VS. VANDERBILT
Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between Purdue and Vanderbilt. The Boilermakers are 3-4-2 all-time against SEC opponents after Thursday's draw to Kentucky. Before two nights ago against the Wildcats, the last outing against an SEC club was in 2019, when Purdue opened the slate with a 1-0 home win over Georgia and suffered a 2-0 loss to No. 7 South Carolina two weeks later.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Vanderbilt is 1-0-0 on the year after a 1-0 overtime victory against Tennessee Tech on Thursday. Abi Brighton netted the golden goal in the 97th minute as the Commodores had a 21-3 advantage in shots and a 6-1 edge in corner kicks. Vandy goalkeeper Kate Devine stopped both shots she faced.
In the preseason polls, Vanderbilt is ranked No. 18 by the United Soccer Coaches and Soccer America, No. 21 by TopDrawerSoccer.com and No. 22 by College Soccer News.
UP NEXT: TWO-MATCH HOME WEEKEND
Purdue returns home for a pair of home matches next weekend. Gonzaga comes to Folk Field on Thursday, August 26, at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Ball State on Sunday, August 29, at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all Purdue Soccer regular-season home games in 2021.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The contest will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, while live stats can be found at Vanderbilt.Statbroadcast.com. Updates from Nashville also can be found by following @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, while direct links to follow along are available on the schedule page at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
The Boilermakers (0-0-1) and Commodores (1-0-0) both opened the season at their home parks on Thursday night with matches that took overtime to decide. In front of the largest home crowd in program history, Purdue played to a 1-1 draw to Kentucky, while Vandy topped Tennessee Tech in the 97th minute, 1-0.
LAST TIME OUT: RECORD CROWD WATCHES BOILERMAKERS RALLY
The program attendance record was broken on Thursday night, as 2,125 fans made their return to a Purdue sports event to see the Boilermakers tie Kentucky, 1-1 at Folk Field. Senior forward Sarah Griffith scored the match-tying goal at 47:34, and it was another highlight-reel score that would be ranked No. 5 on ESPN Sports Center's Top-10 Plays later in the evening.
Purdue had an 18-14 advantage in shots, and both teams had seven shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Marisa Bova and her UK counterpart each made six saves. Griffith led all players with seven shots and had a game-high-tying two shots on goal. The visitor's goal came in the 30th minute.
A complete recap from the match, including box score, postgame comments from coach Drew Roff and highlights, can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
OPENING-WEEKEND SCHEDULING
Sunday's matchup at No. 18 Vanderbilt marks the first time since 2011 that the Boilermakers play a road game on the opening weekend of the season (excluding last season's Big Ten-only slate, contested in the spring of 2021). The 2011 campaign began with a 1-0 win at Toledo on August 19, and since then, the earliest Purdue played away from Folk Field was August 26, 2016, with a trip to Baylor to begin weekend No. 2.
Additionally, Sunday is the earliest in the year that Purdue has faced a ranked opponent since 2011. Following the win at Toledo to open 2011, the Old Gold and Black lost at No. 13 West Virginia, 3-0. In seventh-year head coach Drew Roff's tenure, the Boilermakers' earliest game against a top-25 foe came on September 1, 2016, a 2-0 loss at No. 4 West Virginia.
Under Roff, Purdue is 7-3-1 in opening-weekend games, including last season. Following Thursday night's draw to Kentucky, the Boilermakers are 5-1-1 in season-openers and 6-0-1 in home-opening contests.
SERIES HISTORY VS. VANDERBILT
Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between Purdue and Vanderbilt. The Boilermakers are 3-4-2 all-time against SEC opponents after Thursday's draw to Kentucky. Before two nights ago against the Wildcats, the last outing against an SEC club was in 2019, when Purdue opened the slate with a 1-0 home win over Georgia and suffered a 2-0 loss to No. 7 South Carolina two weeks later.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Vanderbilt is 1-0-0 on the year after a 1-0 overtime victory against Tennessee Tech on Thursday. Abi Brighton netted the golden goal in the 97th minute as the Commodores had a 21-3 advantage in shots and a 6-1 edge in corner kicks. Vandy goalkeeper Kate Devine stopped both shots she faced.
In the preseason polls, Vanderbilt is ranked No. 18 by the United Soccer Coaches and Soccer America, No. 21 by TopDrawerSoccer.com and No. 22 by College Soccer News.
UP NEXT: TWO-MATCH HOME WEEKEND
Purdue returns home for a pair of home matches next weekend. Gonzaga comes to Folk Field on Thursday, August 26, at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Ball State on Sunday, August 29, at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all Purdue Soccer regular-season home games in 2021.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.