Boilermakers Host Badgers Thursday on ESPNU
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In its Big Ten Conference home opener, the Purdue soccer team hosts Wisconsin on Thursday, September 22, at 5 p.m. ET, in a nationally-televised contest on ESPNU.
Admission is free for all fans on Thursday and for every regular-season home game in 2022. Thursday is $2 beer night for fans 21 and over while supplies last.
The match will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with Joe Malfa and Kaylyn Kyle on the call. Live stats are available at Purdue.Statbroadcast.com. Updates 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 are 3-5-0 and 0-1-0 in the Big Ten following a 3-0 defeat at No. 18 Northwestern on Sunday. It was Purdue’s second consecutive top-18 opponent and its third ranked foe of the season. The Old Gold and Black enter Thursday’s matchup with a 2-2-0 mark at Folk Field.
The Badgers come to West Lafayette with a 6-1-2 record after they began conference play with a 3-1 win at Iowa. As the Boilermakers have won three in a row in the series, all on the road, UW visits Folk Field for the first time since 2019.
Through eight games, Purdue is second in the Big Ten with 4.75 saves per game. The Boilermakers have scored nine goals and recorded 11 assists for 29 points. They have made 38 saves for a .760 save percentage with 12 goals allowed for a 1.50 goals-against average.
Individually, junior midfielder Emily Mathews’ three assists is eighth in the Big Ten, and sophomore forward Gracie Dunaway is ninth in the league with four goals and 12th with 10 points. Freshman forward Kayla Budish paces the team with 17 shots, and her eight shots on goal shares the team lead with Dunaway.
SERIES HISTORY VS. WISCONSIN
Purdue is 11-12-3 all-time against Wisconsin and 4-7-1 in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers have won the last three meetings, all UW home games. The Badgers come to Folk Field for the first time since 2019, when No. 13-ranked Wisconsin earned a 1-0 victory. Purdue got revenge a month later in Madison, with a 1-0 upset win at No. 7 UW in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal.
Last season, a pair of goals by then-senior Sarah Griffith propelled Purdue to a 2-1 upset victory at No. 18 Wisconsin on October 3 in Madison. The Boilermakers took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute, and the advantage was extended to 2-0 in the 60th minute on a highlight-reel shot through thick rainfall. Just more than 30 seconds later, UW answered for its lone goal.
Purdue was out-shot 14-11 and Wisconsin had a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal. The Boilermakers earned four corner kicks to the Badgers’ two. The Purdue defense also cleared a ball off the line to prevent the game-tying goal late in the contest.
A complete recap from the match can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin owns a 6-1-2 record and is 1-0-0 in Big Ten action after a 3-1 win at Iowa on September 16. The Badgers, who are receiving votes in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Top-25, have won four in a row. UW is 3-1-1 on the road, with its lone loss a 4-1 defeat at then-No. 16 Notre Dame in a top-25 matchup.
The Badgers are third in the Big Ten with 4.33 saves per game and fourth with a .830 save percentage, 18 goals and a .556 shutout percentage. UW also is fifth in the league with 13 assists and 49 points. Individually, Emma Jaskaniec is No. 7 nationally with three game-winning goals, No. 10 with seven goals and No. 24 with 15 total points. Erin McKinney’s five shutouts is 12th in the NCAA, and she is second in the Big Ten with 39 saves.
LAST TIME OUT: BIG TEN-OPENING LOSS
Purdue opened Big Ten play with a 3-0 loss at No. 18 Northwestern on a hot Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Illinois. Against their second consecutive top-18 foe, and opening the conference slate on the road for the third season in a row, the Boilermakers fell behind 1-0 in the fifth minute. The Wildcats scored again in the 20th minute and netted their third goal in the 29th.
NU had a 12-7 advantage in shots, though it was 6-4 in Purdue’s favor in the second half. NU had a 3-0 edge in shots on target in the contest, all in the first half, and earned five corner kicks to the Boilermakers’ three, a total that was even at 2-2 in the second half. Individually, junior midfielder Emily Mathews had two shots to lead the team, and five players registered one shot.
A complete recap can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
UP NEXT: SUNDAY ON THE ROAD
The Boilermakers conclude the week at Michigan State on Sunday, September 25, with kickoff in East Lansing set for 1 p.m. ET. Purdue then returns home for its next three games, beginning against Nebraska on Thursday, September 29, at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. That contest is the team’s annual Hammer Down Cancer match, and admission is free for all fans to every regular-season home game at Folk Field in 2022.
