Nov. 8, 2007

Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Senior Kelsey Hans (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville) scored her 10th goal of the year 61 seconds into the contest, but the eighth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers scored the next three to down the Wildcats in the first round of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament, 3-1.

With the loss, Northwestern ends the season at 9-7-4. The 'Cats finished seventh in the Big Ten at 4-4-2. Purdue improves to 17-2-2 on the year.

Purdue took a total of 26 shots and senior Lauren Johnston (Denver, Colo./Denver East) made a career-high 13 saves in the loss.

Just like Northwestern's men's soccer squad, these Wildcats needed less than two minutes to take a 1-0 lead in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Hans put the 'Cats on the board at 1:01 with her team-leading 10th goal of the season on a left-footed shot into the upper-left corner of the Purdue goal. Hans finishes the season with 24, the second highest total of her career.

Jenny Dunn (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Louisville) forced a save at 01:33, but Purdue racked up several shots of their own and eventually netted the equalizer at 12:25 on a goal by Loredana Riverso.

Purdue took a 2-1 lead on a Wildcat own goal at 33:55. After a scramble in the front of the Wildcat goal, the ball found its way into the NU net and the Boilermakers took a one-goal lead.

After Purdue took a 2-1 lead into halftime, the Boilermakers came out of the locker room and forced two quick saves by Johnston in the first five minutes of the second frame. Hans and Shannon Schneeman (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) fought back and forced saves by the Purdue keeper.

Purdue continued to pressure and added insurance at 86:18 with Riverso's second goal of the game. The Boilermakers advanced to the second round in the Big Ten Tournament by topping the Wildcats, 3-1.

Schneeman and Hans both paced the 'Cats with two shots each. Dunn, along with freshmen Jennifer Baumann (Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) and Kirstyn Atkinson (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) notched the rest of NU's shots.