Dunaway Sends Purdue to Season-Opening Win
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue soccer team opened the 2024 season with a 1-0 victory over Washington State on Thursday night at Folk Field.
As afternoon rain turned into a beautiful evening in West Lafayette, the Boilermakers (1-0-0) provided consistent offensive pressure that turned into a 76th-minute goal by senior forward Gracie Dunaway.
Purdue had 16 shots, seven on goal, while the Cougars (0-1-0) were held to seven shots, three on target. The Boilermakers earned nine corner kicks and limited WSU to just one. Four yellow cards were shown in the contest, two to each side.
Dunaway’s goal was the 11th of her career and the third in an opening-night contest. She now has two career game-winning goals. Senior defender Sydney Boudreau was credited with the assist, the second of her career. Both of them are game winners.
Three Boilermakers had three shots, including Dunaway and sophomore forward Lauren Omholt, who each posted two shots on goal. Sophomore Emily Edwards made her first career start and stopped all three shots she faced to earn the clean sheet in her debut in the Old Gold and Black. Edwards’ WSU counterpart made six saves.
As Richard Moodie began his tenure as the third head coach in program history, Purdue improved to 17-8-2 all-time in season openers. The Boilermakers are 18-7-2 in home openers, with an impressive 11-3-1 mark since 2015.
The fourth-largest crowd in team history witnessed the victory, as 1,713 energetic fans encircled the pitch at Folk Field and created a raucous atmosphere for 90 minutes.
Thursday night’s contest was the first time Purdue and Washington State squared off in soccer.
Dunaway scored the first goal of the season at 75:13. Boudreau had the ball down the right side of the field and sent a pass towards Dunaway near the top corner of the penalty box. Dunaway turned and rolled off a defender as she entered the box before sending in a shot from 12 yards out on the right side. The right-footed shot was slotted towards the far post, through an open six-yard box, and gave Purdue the 1-0 lead.
The home side applied offensive pressure early in the contest, with four shots in the opening five minutes. Omholt and Boudreau had the first two, with Omholt’s blocked and Boudreau’s saved. Roy and Budish followed with chances of their own in the fifth minute, both of which were blocked. Roy had another shot in the 10th minute that was wide left to cap a strong first 10 minutes for the home side.
The Cougars’ first shot didn’t come until the 20th minute, a chance that was wide, and WSU had its only other opportunity three minutes later that also went wide.
Junior forward Kayla Budish had a shot that was high in the 26th minute, which proved to be the final chance for either team in the opening half.
Purdue out-shot Washington State 6-2 in the first half, and the visiting keeper made one save. The Boilermakers had three corner kicks and held the Cougars without one.
It was WSU that had the early chances in the second half, as Edwards made her first save in the opening minute, and another shot was forced high less than 60 seconds later.
Dunaway and Omholt quickly followed with chances of their own, Dunaway’s that was blocked and Omholt’s that was saved.
Budish earned a free kick just at the edge of the penalty area in the 56th minute, but the ensuing free kick was over the upper right corner of the goal. Dunaway then had a chance saved in the 64th minute.
Junior Chiarra Singarella had two opportunities in the 68th minute, as her first shot was saved to set up a corner kick, but her chance off that free kick went to the left of the post.
Edwards made a great save less than a minute later, in the 69th minute, to preserve what was a goalless game.
The next shot taken was Dunaway’s in the 76th minute. That put the Old Gold and Black ahead and sent the Boiler Gold Rush crowd into a frenzy.
With a 1-0 lead, Purdue continued to apply pressure in the final third, and Omholt fired a shot in that was saved in the 78th minute. Singarella had another chance go wide left in the 83rd.
Two fantastic opportunities nearly made it 2-0 at 85:13, as senior forward Lexi Fraley had a hard-struck shot go off the left post. Senior midfielder Abigail Roy was right there to get the rebound, but her shot was stopped for the WSU keeper’s sixth save of the night.
One more save ended the day, as Edwards stopped her third shot in the 87th minute to preserve the victory.
Purdue doubled Washington State in shots in the last 45 minutes, 10-5, and also in shots on goal, 6-3. The home side earned six corners to the visitor’s one.
The opening weekend continues on Sunday, August 18, with a short trip south to face Butler in Indianapolis. Kickoff between the two in-state foes is set for 7 p.m. ET. Purdue returns home to face Loyola Chicago on Thursday, August 22, at 7 p.m. Kickoff is free for all fans to that contest and each regular-season home game at Folk Field.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook.