WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Illinois soccer snapped a three-match winless run with a 2-1 victory over Purdue (3-9-1) at Folk Field. It was the first-ever win by the Illini in West Lafayette.
The Orange and Blue move to 7-5-2 on the season and are now 2-3-1 in Big Ten play this season.
“To regroup this week and come in to West Lafayette and get the first win here in program history says a lot about the resilience of this team,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “Today was a better full 90 minutes and our midfield accepted the challenge we game them at half time and they really stepped up in the second half.”
“We need to build on this and stay focused on each day. We still have another level in us.”
Just moments after the Boilermakers kicked off to start the match, Kendra Pasquale won a tackle in midfield to gain possession and dribbled into space outside of the area and floated her left-footed shot into the top corner, giving Illinois the lead after just 15 seconds, the second-fastest goal to start a match in program history.
The Illini nearly doubled their lead in the seventh minute, when Pasquale played Maeve Jones through on goal with a perfectly weighted ball over the top, but the striker was put off just as she got her shot away and it was saved by the Boilermaker keeper.
The hosts would equalize in the 14th minute with a bit of luck, as Ella Karolak’s clearance inside the area inadvertently struck a Purdue attacker and the loose ball fell to Gabby Hollar, who fired her shot first-time into the net.
After a quick flurry of a goals, neither side came…
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