Oct. 8, 2002
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 20th-ranked Purdue women’s soccer team made the most of its chances, cashing in each of its only shots on net in the game, as the visiting Boilermakers defeated Notre Dame, 3-1, in Tuesday-night action at Alumni Field.
Notre Dame (7-6-0) – playing its third game in five days, with continued limits on its personnel – held a 15-4 edge in total shots but just four of those shots came on net, with junior forward Amanda Guertin scoring the lone Irish goal in the 62nd minute of play.
Purdue (8-2-1) opened the scoring midway through the second half, when Chrissy Creamer lofted in a shot on a corner-kick scramble (19:33), for her third goal of the season. Two minutes later, a pass from Jennie Moppert sprung Annette Kent on a breakaway, with Kent sending a shot into the lower left corner of the net for her fourth goal of the season (21:36).
Notre Dame played without junior Melissa Tancredi, who was forced to sit out the game after picking up her fifth yellow card of the season in Sunday’s game at West Virginia (she has started as both a forward and defender in 2002). Senior defender Vanessa Pruzinsky (ankle injury) missed her 11th game of the season while the team’s other senior captain, midfielder Ashley Dryer, played just a handful of minutes in the second half (she had been sidelined since Sept. 20 with a leg injury).
The Irish suffered another blow in the late moments of Tuesday’s game, when sophomore Gudrun Gunnarsdottir was sidelined following a collision. Gunnarsdottir – who recently missed six games with a foot injury – is not expected to play in Sunday’s matchup with BIG EAST rival Connecticut.
The visitors stretched to a 3-0 cushion shortly before halftime, with a pass from Creamer sending Moppert down the right flank. Moppert sent a cross into the box for Lauren Sesselmann, who one-touched the ball into the far side of the net for her second goal of the season (41:11).
Notre Dame changed its lineup in the second half, returning sophomore Candace Chapman to the back (she started at attacking midfield) while playing with just three defenders and four midfielders for the final 45 minutes. The change yielded one goal early in the half, with junior forward Amy Warner setting up the score with her race down the left side and a pass across the goalmouth. Freshman forward Katie Thorlakson fired a one-touch shot at the far post and Guertin knocked in the rebound for her fifth goal of the season and the 31st of her career (61:13).
The Irish continued to push forward (Dryer had a shot that clanged off the crossbar), ultimately amassing a 9-1 shot edge in the second half – but the hosts failed to create many quality scoring chances with Purdue packing the box to maintain the two-goal lead.
#20 Purdue 2 1 – 3
Notre Dame 0 1 – 1
PUR 1. Chrissy Creamer 3 (-) 19:33; PUR 2. Annette Kent 4 (Jennie Moppert) 21:36; PUR 3. Lauren Sesselmann 2 (Moppert, Creamer) 61:13; ND 1. Amanda Guertin 5 (Katie Thorlakson) 61:13.
Shots: PUR 3-1-4, ND 6-9-15.
Corner Kicks: PUR 3, ND 5.
Saves: PUR (Jocelyn Cavalier) 3, ND (Erika Bohn) 0.
Fouls: PUR 13, ND 13.
Offsides: PUR 0, ND 2.
Yellow Cards: Elise Berry (PUR) 53:49; Katie Thorlakson 3 (ND) 81:51.