| 1 | 0 |
| Boilermaker Soccer Complex | West Lafayette, Ind. | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Raquel Rodriguez scored her second-straight game winning goal, leading the Penn State women's soccer team to a 1-0 shutout of Purdue in its Big Ten conference opener on Friday.
"It is tough to come to West Lafayette and get a result against Purdue," head coach Erica Walsh said. "That was a good team we played against tonight. Purdue had plenty of chances to equalize and I'm proud of the team for holding strong."
The Nittany Lions' defense limited the Boilermakers (4-2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) to just one shot in the first half, and Penn State got off five going in to half time.
Penn State's upperclassmen took the charge in the second half and, for the second-straight game, Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) scored the game-winner, after netting the winning goal against Duke on Sept. 7. In the 58th minute, Rodriguez sent a low ball at the right inside edge of the 18-yard box to the left post for the 1-0 lead.
"She has a nose for the goal," Walsh said. "She's played as a forward for most of her life so she has a good sense of where and when to finish. It's been great to get to closer to the goal this year so she can score a few."
The Nittany Lions outshot the Boilermakers, 16-7, putting eight on goal. Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) made one save, in the second half.
Penn State starts conference play with a 1-0 record, and a 5-1 overall mark. The team improved its series record over Purdue to 14-1-1.
The Nittany Lions travel in-state on Sun., Sept. 14 to Big Ten foes Indiana for a 1 p.m. match.