Oct. 6, 2009

Game 13 Notes

 K. Phillips Previews IU & Minnesota  |  R. Akhavain Previews IU & Minnesota

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The ninth-ranked Purdue women’s soccer team heads to Bloomington to take on rival Indiana on Thursday.

“IU is off to one of the best starts in the school’s history,” head coach Robert Klatte said. “They have a motivated, talented, hard-working and battling side. They’re threatening up front with good pace. They look to get in behind early and definitely have a couple of special players. Everything that we’ve heard about them says they are very organized defensively. They cover for each other well, and it’s going to be very difficult to break them down and isolate them 1v1.”

Purdue (7-2-3, 2-0-2) is alone on top of the Big Ten standings with eight points after remaining unbeaten through its first four conference games for the third consecutive season. The Boilermakers rank second in the Big Ten with 25 goals scored, and their plus-three goal differential in conference play is the best mark in the Big Ten.

The Boilermakers moved to ninth in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, marking their sixth consecutive week in the top 15 and second week this season in the top 10. Purdue’s six-week stretch ties the 2007 team for the most consecutive weeks ranked in the top 15 during the regular season in program history.

Indiana (9-1-3, 1-2-1) has put together an unblemished 7-0-1 mark at home this season, including a 1-0 win over Michigan State last Friday. The Hoosiers are led offensively by sophomore Devon Beach’s 12 points. Beach also is tied with fellow sophomore Carly Samp and freshman Orianica Velasquez-Herrera for the team lead with four goals.

The Golden Boot is on the line once again in Thursday’s contest. The trophy, which debuted in 2002, has never left Purdue’s possession. The Boilermakers lead the all-time series with Indiana 9-1-3 and have not lost to the Hoosiers since the team’s initial meeting in 1999. Purdue holds a 7-1-2 edge in the regular season and is 2-1-2 in Bloomington.

“Their place always creates a difficult environment,” Klatte said. “There is certainly no love lost between the two programs, but I think there is a lot of respect. We have gotten results against similar teams, so we expect to go in there and battle.”

Thursday’s game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. ET start. Live results and a live radio broadcast from Armstrong Stadium can be found at PurdueSports.com. The game also will be shown Saturday on the Big Ten Network at 5:30 p.m. ET.