Game Notes: Week 8 
Oct. 7, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Boilermaker soccer spends this week alone on top of the Big Ten conference after earning four points over the weekend. On Friday, they tied the Michigan Wolverines 1-1 and shutout Michigan State on Sunday, 2-0. Purdue holds a one-point advantage in the conference over Penn State and Ohio State as they prepare to travel north to take on Minnesota and Iowa.
ALL TIED UP
For the second time this season, Purdue let a lead slip away in the second half to end up with a tie. Junior Loredana Riverso scored her sixth goal of the year to give the Boilermakers a 1-0 lead. With just over four minutes left in regulation, Michigan's Jackie Carron unleashed a shot from 25 yards to knot the score at 1-1. Purdue finished with a 28-12 shot advantage over the Wolverines and held them without a shot in both overtime periods, but it was not enough to avoid the tie.
TWICE AS NICE
Senior Felicia Schroeder netted two goals last Sunday to give Purdue a 2-0 win over Michigan State. The Boilermakers held the high-powered Spartan attack to just four shots, while Michigan State freshman and Big Ten leading goal-scorer Laura Heyboer was held without a shot for all 90 minutes. Junior goalkeeper Jenny Bradfisch tallied four saves for her fourth shutout of the season. This was Purdue's sixth straight win over Michigan State.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Key Players: Junior Loredana Riverso leads the team with 15 points on six goals and three assists. She is also tied for the team lead in goals with senior Felicia Schroeder. Freshman Kellie Phillips has seven assists on the season, already the most ever by a Boilermaker freshman and tied for the fourth most in Purdue single-season history. Junior goalkeeper Jenny Bradfisch has a 8-3-2 record, a 0.78 GAA and a .818 save percentage. Four of her eight wins have come via shutout.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Quick Take: Minnesota's lone match last weekend was a 1-0 overtime victory over Indiana on Sunday. Their record now stands at 12-1-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the Big Ten. This is the most wins for the program since 1999. They are currently in 5th place in the Big Ten and receiving votes in this week's NSCAA/adidas poll.
Key Players: Lindsey Schwartz paces the Golden Gopher attack. All 12 of her points have come from six goals, five of which have gone for game-winners. Molly Rouse leads the team with six assists. Goalkeeper Lindsay Dare leads the Big Ten in multiple categories: goals against average (0.30), save percentage (.867), shutouts (10) and shutouts per game (0.77).
All-time Series: Purdue leads its all-time series with Minnesota 7-3 and have won seven straight against the Golden Gophers. Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium has been a home away from home for Purdue. They have beat the home team three times at Robbie Stadium and won the Big Ten Tournament there in 2007 following a 3-1 win against Ohio State.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Quick Take: Iowa hosted Indiana last Friday before going outside the Big Ten to play North Dakota State on Sunday. The Hawkeyes were able to go the entire weekend without giving up a goal, beating the Hoosiers 1-0 and North Dakota State 3-0. They stand at 7-5-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the Big Ten, putting them in 7th place in the conference.
Key Players: Alyssa Cosnek is scoring goals at a torried pace. In only 19 shots and 11 shots on goal, she has racked up seven goals and 14 points. She has a .368 shot percentage and a .579 shots on goal percentage. Other major contributors for Iowa are Keli McLaughlin (4 goals), Stephanie Hyink (4 goals) and Morgan Showalter (8 assists). Two Hawkeyes share time at goalkeeper. Emily Moran and Kali Feiereisel have each played in all 13 matches and have played approximately the same amount of minutes. Moran owns the better GAA and save percentage, at 0.74 and .857 respecitvely.
All-time Series: Purdue gained a 4-3-2 series lead over Iowa following a 2-1 overtime home victory last season. The win also snapped a two-match winless streak against the Hawkeyes. The Boilermakers are 2-2-1 against Iowa on the road and 2-1-1 vs. the Hawkeyes at home.
ON THE BRINK...AGAIN
Purdue remained tied as the first team outside the top 25 in this week's NSCAA/adidas poll. The Boilermakers share that dubious distinction with Denver. The top five remained the same as last week, with Notre Dame, North Carolina, Portland, UCLA and USC leading things off. Big Ten foe Illinois jumped up to No. 16 and Penn State moved up to No. 23.
HARD WORK REWARDED
Senior forward Felicia Schroeder was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week on Oct. 6. She posted her first two-goal match of the season against Michigan State, which was good for Purdue's only two goals of the contest. Her two tallies came on just three shots, all of which were on goal. Earlier in the weekend, she chalked up three shots versus Michigan. The two-goal effort versus the Spartans was good enough to move the Cincinnati native into Purdue's top-10 career goal scorers list.
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Lauren Montenegro was honored as the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29. The freshman defensive midfielder played a major role in Purdue's back-to-back shutouts to start the Big Ten season. Against Northwestern, Montenegro played all 90 minutes and was part of a defense that limited the Wildcats to five shots, including just one on goal. At Wisconsin, the Diamond Bar, Calif. native chalked up an assist to go with 76 minutes of action. The Badgers were held scoreless on ten shots, including five shots on goal.
TOP DRAWER TALENT
Redshirt junior defensive back Sylvia Forbes was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week on Sept. 15. For Purdue's matches at Miami and versus Rhode Island and Morehead State, Forbes was an integral part of a defense that held their opponents to a .081 shot percentage. She played all 90 minutes in each of the three contests and tallied one shot on goal. This is her first season on defense for the Boilermakers, but the Whitby, Ontario native has quickly moved into a key role for a stout back line. As a forward the previous two seasons, Forbes registered 24 points on nine goals and six assists.
CHALLENGE CUP CHAMPS
On Sept. 14, Purdue won the Boilermaker Challenge Cup title for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2004. The Boilermakers defeated Rhode Island, 3-1, and Morehead State, 3-0, on their way to the crown. Freshmen midfielders swept the tournament MVP awards when Kellie Phillips earned Offensive MVP honors and Lauren Montenegro won the Defensive MVP award. Also making the all-tournament team for Purdue were senior Felicia Schroeder, redshirt sophomore Katie Becker and sophomore Liz Secue.
KEEP AN EYE ON THIS ONE
Junior goalkeeper Jenny Bradfisch is the first player in Purdue soccer history to be named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List. Bradfisch is coming off a season that earned her All-Big Ten second team honors. She led the Big Ten with a 0.49 goals-against-average and was second with a .826 save percentage. She was also named to the NSCAA/adidas All-Great Lakes third team and to the Soccer Buzz Magazine All-Great Lakes Region second team. She won a program record 11 straight games from Sept. 5 to Oct. 7 and also set program highs in wins (20), goals-against average (0.49), minutes played (2200:17), matches started (25) and matches played (25). Bradfisch is one of 47 women on the list, which was chosen by Division I head coaches that are members of the NSCAA. The Hermann Trophy is presented by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo. and is considered the highest individual honor in collegiate soccer.
THREE'S COMPANY
Purdue was picked to finish third in the Big Ten this season by the conference coaches. Penn State and Illinois were picked to finish first and second, respectively. The Boilermakers finished second in the Big Ten for just the second time in program history last season, the first time being in 2005. Purdue is followed in the preseason predictions by Indiana, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Iowa.
