Boiler soccer remains undefeated at home

It may be syllabus week, also known as “silly week” for thousands of Purdue students, but it was all business for Purdue Soccer as they hosted another non conference opponent.

Purdue (1-1-1) returned home Thursday night to host the Loyola Ramblers (1-0-1) for the second game of the season at Folk Field.

The Boilers bounced back from their 3-0 loss on the road, heavily out-possessing the Ramblers, though Loyola turned up the pressure in the last 20 minutes to snatch a draw from the clutches of defeat.

Here are the three takeaways from the Boilers’ 1-1 draw against Loyola.

Budish and Dunaway link for opening goal

Junior forward Kayla Budish and senior forward Gracie Dunaway both led the Boilers with three goals each in 2023. The pair were both named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List before the season started, and against the Ramblers they linked together to give Purdue the lead.

In the 17th minute Dunaway found herself open on the right side of the pitch. She took two touches and sent the ball through the Loyola defense to the feet of Budish who had no one but the goalie in front of her.

Budish dribbled around the goalie, then sent the ball between the keepers’ legs and into the net, giving the Boilers a 1-0 lead after just 17 minutes.

Loyola equalize just before final 15 minutes

The Boilers limited the Ramblers attack for the majority of the match, though it all fell apart after the 70th minute. A series of short passes around the midfield opened up the Boiler backline and the Ramblers played a through ball that split the Boilers center backs and led their attacker in on-goal.

It was freshman forward Jocelyn Leigh who was found wide open behind the Purdue defense, taking the ball at her own feet and sprinting straight to the goal unchallenged by anyone but keeper Claire Wyville.

Leigh sprinted just up until the 18-yard box, when she slowed down as the Boiler goalkeeper came off her line to meet the attacker. Leigh took one last touch and placed the ball perfectly in the bottom right of the Purdue goal, evening the score in the 74th minute.

“We've got to take a look at what we can do to get the team performing like we did against Washington again,” head coach Richard Moodie said.

Purdue pile on the pressure

After being outshot 25-3 in their previous loss against Butler, the Boilers turned on the afterburners and kept Loyola’s freshman goalkeeper Allison Deardorff busy, forcing her into tough saves early in the first half.

Purdue dominated the possession battle and controlled the tempo of the game, picking apart the Loyola wings and finding multiple openings behind its defensive line. The Boilers found themselves just one or two touches away from a shot on-goal on multiple occasions, but Budish was the only Boiler to give Deardorff a real test in the first half.

The Boilers continued to control the game in the second half as the ball spent a majority of the time on the Rambler’s side of the field.

“Purdue deserves to win, the school deserves to win, these young ladies deserve to win,” Moodie said. “We thought we could get this thing going pretty quick and get it turned around, and I still do.”

Persistent possession of the ball has been a theme through Purdue's first two home games this season and look to continue the trend against the University of Illinois Chicago on Sunday at 1 p.m.