Rutgers women's soccer blanked on road by Purdue for 2nd straight loss
The Rutgers women’s soccer team fell 2-0 to Purdue on Thursday night. The Scarlet Knights (9-3-3, 5-2-2) suffered their second straight defeat after previously going 10 games undefeated.
Rutgers needed a bounce-back win against the Boilermakers (7-7-2, 3-5-1), but 2 first-half goals from the home team were what ultimately decided the game.
Head coach Mike O’Neill made some changes to his usual starting lineup, giving sophomore midfielder Brianna Azevedeo her first career start and freshman defender Mikayla Mandleur her second straight start.
In the 7th minute of play, freshman defender Claire Hammill executed the Knights' opening shot of the match, but it was off target, and Purdue goalkeeper Claire Wyville let it go out. The first Boilermakers shot came from Abigail Roy in the 19th minute, but it was also off-target.
Purdue took the lead in the 22nd minute. Gabriela Angulo played a trivela pass to Lexi Fraley, who passed the ball across the face of goal. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer punched the pass away, but Kayla Budish tapped the rebound into the net.
The Boilermakers didn’t stop there, extending their lead just 7 minutes later. Lauren Meeks crossed the ball into the box and found Gracie Dunaway, whose header was impressively saved by Bodmer. But once again, the Knights didn’t defend the follow-up, allowing Sydney Boudreau to easily score.
The second half of the game saw a couple of shot attempts from Rutgers, especially senior forward Riley Tiernan, who was focused on helping the team try to make a comeback. The Knights ended the game with 17 shots, but Wyville had an outstanding night between the posts, saving 10 shots for Purdue’s seventh shutout of the season.
Rutgers will return home to face Illinois on Sunday afternoon for its second-to-last game of the regular season. The contest will kick off at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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