Comeback Comes Up Short at Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – The Purdue soccer team scored a second-half goal but could not complete the comeback in a 2-1 loss at Wisconsin on Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin.
On a hot and sun-filled afternoon at the McClimon Track/Soccer Complex, freshman defender Zoe Cuneio scored her second goal of the season. The goal came in the 62nd minute for the Boilermakers after the Badgers found goals in the eighth and 23rd minutes.
Purdue (3-9-1, 0-4-1 Big Ten) had four shots, three on goal, and Wisconsin (8-2-3, 3-1-1 Big Ten) registered 12 shots, eight on frame. The Badgers held a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks and had 12 fouls called against them to the Boilermakers’ five.
Junior midfielder Gracie Dunaway notched two shots, both on goal, to lead the team. Senior goalkeeper Charlotte Cyr made a season-high-tying six saves. Her UW counterpart stopped two shots.
Cuneio’s goal was assisted by junior midfielder Abigail Roy. It is Roy’s team-high-tying fourth assist in 2023 and the sixth of her career. Cuneio and Roy each have four points this season.
The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Purdue against Wisconsin in UW home games, a streak that dated back to 2019. The Badgers improved to 5-1-1 at home in 2023 and have allowed one or fewer goals in all but three contests this year.
Cyr made a pair of saves early, the first coming 51 seconds into the match and the second in the sixth minute. A corner kick in the eighth minute set up Wisconsin’s first goal, scored by Emma Jaskaniec at 7:35. The assist went to Ashley Martinez.
Three minutes later, Dunaway had a chance to tie it, but her shot from inside the 18 on the left side near the endline was saved.
Two UW corner kicks preceded another nice save by Cyr in the 19th minute. The Badgers then took a 2-0 lead at 22:44 as Martinez scored unassisted.
The Boilermaker defense forced two shots high in the 23rd and 24th minutes, and Cyr stopped another chance in the 27th. That proved to be the last shot of the opening half.
Wisconsin had nine shots, six on goal, and Purdue had one shot, on target, in the first half. The home side earned four corner kicks and the visitors had one.
Senior midfielder Nicole Kevdzija registered the first shot of the second half, with a chance from 25 yards out that was blocked. That earned the Boilermakers a throw-in, and then a corner, but they could not get another shot off.
The Boilermakers cut the deficit in half at 61:27, as Cuneio scored from Roy to make it a 2-1 game.
On a free kick just past midfield, Roy sent a long ball all the way into the middle of the penalty area. Wisconsin’s keeper got to the ball first, but attempted to punch it away as she dove forward. The ball deflected off another player and was sent to the right towards Cuneio. In the air off the first bounce, she got her left foot on the ball and fired a shot that went just inside the left post.
Dunaway had a chance saved in the 68th minute as the Boilermakers looked for the equalizing goal. The defense then blocked a UW chance three minutes later.
Cyr made a pair of saves to keep it 2-1, with one in the 76th and another in the 78th minute. That last save, made near the right post, was her sixth of the day and the last shot for either team in the contest.
After six days off, the Boilermakers are back at Folk Field for a rivalry matchup against Indiana on Sunday, October 8, at 1 p.m. ET. Admission is free for all fans as Purdue will look to retain the Golden Boot Trophy for the ninth consecutive year. It is Kids Club Day and there will be a scarf giveaway for students.