In an in-state clash, the Purdue soccer team hosts No. 9 Notre Dame on Thursday night at Folk Field, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET.
Admission is free for all fans on Thursday and for every regular-season home game in 2022. There will be a Taco Thursday giveaway to students, with free tacos while supplies last.
The match will be broadcast live on B1G+, and live stats are available at Purdue.Statbroadcast.com. Updates also can be found by following @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, while direct links to follow along are available on the schedule page at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
Thursday night is the third meeting between Purdue and Notre Dame in the last year, after the two sides faced off twice in 2021. They first met in the regular season in Notre Dame, Indiana, and again in the NCAA Second Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This is UND's first-ever trip to West Lafayette.
The Boilermakers (3-3-0) welcome their second top-25 opponent to Folk Field in 2022, following a 3-0 victory over No. 15 USC in front of a record-breaking crowd on opening night. Purdue is coming off a 2-1 road win at Kansas State on Sunday and is 2-1-0 at Folk Field in 2022.
Through six games, the Boilermakers lead the Big Ten with 5.67 saves per game. They also are fifth with 11 total assists and sixth with a .491 shot accuracy. Purdue has scored eight goals on 57 shots, with six goals allowed and 34 saves for a .850 save percentage.
Individually, sophomore goalkeeper Sara Kile is No. 14 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten with 33 saves, and she also leads the league with 6.60 saves per game and is fourth with a .868 save percentage. Sophomore forward Gracie Dunaway is second in the league with four goals, third with 10 points and sixth with a .615 shot accuracy. Junior midfielder Emily Mathews paces the team with three assists, which is third-most in the conference.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NOTRE DAME
Purdue is 1-2-1 all-time against Notre Dame following a pair of matchups in both 2002 and 2021. Thursday will be the Boilermakers' first home game in the series. Last year, the Fighting Irish earned a 1-0 home win on September 2. It was followed by a 1-1, double-overtime draw in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on November 19 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The in-state foes also met twice in 2002, both 3-1 affairs at Notre Dame. The No. 20-ranked Boilermakers won the first meeting on October 8, and No. 19 UND topped No. 14 Purdue in the NCAA Second Round on November 17.
On September 2, 2021, Purdue's season-opening unbeaten streak was snapped with a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame thanks to a 59th-minute goal. Purdue had six shots, four on goal, while Notre Dame had 10 shots and five shots on goal. UND earned nine corner kicks to the Boilermakers' one. A complete recap of the match can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
In the NCAA Second Round on November 19, 2021, No. 24 Purdue saw its historic season come to an end with a 1-1, double-overtime draw, as UND advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3. Then-sophomore midfielder Emily Mathews found the back of the net in the seventh minute, and Notre Dame evened the score in the 28th. In 110 minutes, Notre Dame had 31 shots to Purdue's 15, though both teams had several good chances to break the tie. ND had an 11-5 advantage in shots on goal, and the Fighting Irish had a 12-4 edge in corners. A complete recap of the postseason contest is available at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame is a perfect 5-0-0 on the season and 1-0-0 on the road. The Fighting Irish own back-to-back wins over Big Ten opponents, after home victories over Illinois, 4-0 on August 28, and Wisconsin, 4-1 on September 1. Wisconsin's goal a week ago was the first scored against UND this season. In its sole road match before coming to Folk Field, Notre Dame won at Saint Louis, 2-0 on August 25. UND's contest at Indiana on Sunday was canceled due to field conditions in Bloomington.
The Irish are in the top-15 nationally in each major poll. They check in at No. 9 in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings and No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Notre Dame also is No. 8 in College Soccer News' top-30.
Statistically, the Fighting Irish lead the nation with 11.20 corner kicks per game and they are No. 2 with 13.00 shots on goal per game, No. 3 with 23.60 shots per game, No. 11 with a .200 goals-against average, No. 14 with a .800 shutout percentage, No. 18 with 3.00 goals per game and No. 22 with 8.40 points per game. UND has scored 15 goals with 12 assists and has allowed one goal with six saves for a .857 save percentage. Individually, Olivia Wingate is No. 8 nationally with five goals and No. 15 with 11 points, while Mackenzie Wood's .333 goals-against average is No. 22 in the country.
LAST TIME OUT: HARD-FOUGHT ROAD WIN
Purdue earned a hard-fought, 2-1 victory at Kansas State on Sunday afternoon. The Boilermakers took a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute on junior forward Zoie Allen's first career goal, and they extended the advantage to 2-0 in the 25th on a score by sophomore forward Gracie Dunaway. Purdue then withstood having to play the final 47 minutes with 10 players after a second yellow card was shown in the 43rd minute. Despite being down a starter on the back line for the entire second half, the visitors continued to control possession while holding the Wildcats to one goal, in the 87th minute.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sara Kile had one of the best performances of her career, as she made a career-best 11 saves to nearly double her previous best of six. Her final save was stopping a penalty kick in the 80th minute that at the time kept K-State goalless. Kile's 11 saves are tied for fourth-most in a single game in program history and the most since Jordan Ginther also had 11 in a 2016 contest against Rutgers.
Purdue was out-shot 19-7, and K-State had a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal, though the visiting side controlled play and had quality opportunities in the final third throughout the contest, including down a player in the second half. As such, the Boilermakers registered eight corner kicks to Kansas State's five. A total of five yellow cards were shown in the match.
A complete recap can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
UP NEXT: BIG TEN PLAY BEGINS
After a nine-day layoff, Big Ten play commences at Northwestern on Sunday, September 18, at 2 p.m. ET. Purdue then returns home to host Wisconsin for a nationally-televised contest on ESPNU on Thursday, September 22, at 5 p.m. ET. Admission is free for all fans to every regular-season home game at Folk Field in 2022. Purdue's originally-schedule game for this Sunday, September 11, was canceled in early August, due to a change in Long Beach State's travel schedule.
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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