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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Behind a pair of second-half goals, the Penn State women's soccer team defeated Purdue, 2-1, Thursday night at the Boilermaker Soccer Complex. Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) won her 50th match as a Nittany Lion, which moved her into sole possession of second-place all-time at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions, winners of five-straight, improve to 11-2-2 (6-1-1), while Purdue falls to 7-7-1 (2-5-1).
During the opening frame of play, neither team was able to find the back of the net.
The Penn State offense kept the ball in the Boilermaker end of the field for the majority of the first half. The Nittany Lions tallied six shots in the first 45 minutes of play, while the Boilermakers did not record a single shot or corner kick in the first half.
Jordan Ginther made her lone save of the first half for Purdue in the eighth minute of play. From just inside the penalty area, Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) tallied a right-footed shot on net, but Ginther was there to keep the Nittany Lions off the board.
In the 22nd minute, Maddie Elliston (Omaha, Neb.) crossed the ball into the penalty area, but with the wind at 15 miles per hour, the ball tailed towards the net and hit the crossbar and rebounded back into play. Schafer was there for the rebound, but her shot attempt from six yards out went just left of the net.
The Boilermakers recorded the first goal of the match in the 49th minute of play.
From near midfield, Purdue played the ball into the penalty area. With the ball in the air, Kim Love headed the ball to the foot of Mikayla Lasky and she volleyed the ball into the back of the net from five yards out. Less than ten minutes later though, the Nittany Lions tied the game. Similar to the Purdue goal, the play was created off a set piece from near midfield.
Freshman Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.) fired the ball from near midfield to just inside the penalty area to Schafer. With the ball, Schafer turned towards the net, took a few steps and placed the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net in the 58th minute.
The game remained tied until senior captain Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) scored her third goal of the 2015 campaign in the 80th minute.
Also on a set piece, from roughly 40 yards out, Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) passed the ball to Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) who was in penalty area and Weber passed the ball to Rodriguez. Rodriguez then connected on a left-footed one-timer past Ginther and into the bottom-right corner of the net for the game-winning goal. All-time at Penn State, Rodriguez ranks 16th in game-winning goals (eight).
In the match, Schafer netted her team-leading eighth goal of the season and Weber dished out her team-leading sixth assist.
The No. 9 Nittany Lions continue their road trip Sunday, Oct. 18, for a top-25 showdown against No. 25 Rutgers at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. Game time is set for 1 p.m.