Columbus Standard

The Purdue soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against Nebraska on Thursday night at Folk Field.

Sophomore forward Gracie Dunaway scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season in the 73rd minute to give the Boilermakers (3-7-1, 0-3-1 Big Ten) a 1-0 lead, but the Huskers (4-4-4, 2-1-1 Big Ten) answered with the equalizer two minutes later. Purdue had a strong offensive push in the final 15 minutes, and nearly netted the game-winning goal in the final seconds, but the home side could not find a second goal.

Dunaway's goal was one of two shots she had in the contest, while freshman forward Kayla Budish had a team-best three shots. Junior midfielder Emily Mathews also had a pair of shots, one on target. In goal, freshman Kailey Kimball made a career-best five saves.

While the Boilermakers were out-shot 21-9 and were edged 6-3 in shots on goal, opportunities in the final third were shared between both sides throughout the match. Nebraska earned four corner kicks to Purdue's three.

The Huskers had the first two shots in the game, one off target and another wide, before Mathews had an opportunity go wide. She followed with another good chance that was saved in the ninth minute.

Kimball's first save came on a shot in the 13th minute, as she moved to her left to make a nice stop. Junior midfielder Hannah Lapeire had a shot blocked in the 17th minute, and Nebraska then followed with the next seven shots.

Three saves by Kimball in that stretch gave her four in the first half to match her previous career best set one game ago. The defense also had a blocked shot and forced three chances wide to prevent the visitors from getting any other good looks on goal.

In the opening 45 minutes, NU had 11 shots, four on goal, and Purdue registered three shots, one on target.

Purdue had the first three shots of the second half, two by Budish and one by Dunaway, though none were on target. Budish's first opportunity came after a nice run, where she sent a shot to the far post that went just wide.

Two blocked shots, two chances off target and a great Kimball save followed by the Boilermaker back line, and they also cleared two Nebraska corner kicks.

Three minutes after Kimball's lone save of the second half, Dunaway found the back of the net. The play began with a long ball in by Lapeire, as she looked for Dunaway on the run. The Nebraska defender got a foot on it first and sent the ball back to her keeper, who then looked for an open teammate. As she took a second touch from just outside the six-yard box, Dunaway pressed and made a clean play on the ball to force the turnover and send the ball into the back of the net.

The goal at 72:34 was the sixth of her career.

Two minutes later, at 74:33, Nebraska answered to tie the game at 1-1. Emma Prososki scored from Haley Peterson.

The final five minutes saw several good chances for the Boilermakers to regain the lead. The first came in the 86th minute, as Budish pressured Nebraska's keeper similarly to Dunaway, and she almost had the same result. However, as she was taken to the ground, Budish got a head on the ball and sent it just wide.

With the clock stopped with just five seconds remaining, Purdue had a free kick from near midfield. Senior defender Lauren Holleran took it and sent a perfectly-placed ball into a heavily-occupied six-yard box. Sophomore midfielder Abigail Roy got a shot off, but the Nebraska defense cleared the ball off the line as time expired.

In the second half, Purdue had six shots, two on goal, and Nebraska had 10 shots, also two on target. Both squads earned a pair of corner kicks.

The Boilermakers' three-game homestand continues against No. 10 Rutgers on Sunday, October 2, with kickoff set for noon ET on the Big Ten Network. Admission is free for all fans to every regular-season home game at Folk Field in 2022.

Original source can be found here.